Interview by Kritika Gupta

SDES

Dr. Md. Sameeruddin Khan is working as a Director of six colleges under Sree Dattha Institutions, Hyderabad. His qualification includes – Ph.D., M.Tech and B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering. Having 24-year of experience in the field of education, he has the ability to build institutions from ground zero. 

He is a custodian of Resource center for spoken tutorial & FOSS (IIT Bombay), Remote training center (IIT Bombay and Kharagpur) and Research & Development Center (Aakash II tablets). With his devotion and initiative, Sree Dattha Institute of Engineering & Science received NAAC accreditation. Apart from this, he has collaborated with various multi-national companies like Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Unisys, Amazon, and many more. 

Thoughts on education industry and reasons for its greatness 

I have been in the education domain, for 24 years, as a teacher, system administrator, Assistant Professor, Head of the Department, and a Director. Also, having a diversified exposure to the functioning of various institutions from minority institutions to working in Tier – 1 and Tier – II institutions, I have closely observed the mind-set and quality of students in colleges as well as training institutions.

Harsh Reality: On one side, we see the growth of gigantic schools with colossal infrastructure and exuberance. On the other hand, we see the declining quality of students enrolling in courses of higher education. 

I would not acknowledge any institution or organization providing education as an industry because education is not a business, it is a gift of enlightenment that a teacher gives to his disciple. It is a process in which and by which the knowledge, characters and behavior of a human being are shaped and molded. 

Imam Ghazali said that education is a process which enables an individual to distinguish between the true and false, the good and the bad, the right conduct, and the evil-doing. Aristotle said education is the process of creation of a sound mind in a sound body. Education distinguishes human beings from other creations. The method of teaching is not only for the self- realization of the individual, but it is also to bring into action the potential of a man.

I believe, a teacher should feel fortunate that he or she is the chosen one by God, to be the creator after him. To create enlightened minds that can not only replace the darkness by light from the minds of human beings but also make them civilized and serve society with a human touch. To be a teacher is to be in a noble and respectful profession. Hence, the education sector is the best to work in. 

Major challenges faced by students from different economical background

The primary challenge most of the colleges face is dealing with poor communication skills among the students hailing from rural areas. These students are far better in their urge to learn when compared to their urban counterparts, but the hindrances they come across is in terms of their inability to understand and speak English.

Secondly, but most importantly, what I have experienced is that a majority of students suffer from AAA syndrome. I am sorry, but it is not a disease. By AAA, I mean the current generation of students’ lack Awareness, Aspiration, and face a problem of Affordability. Lack of awareness leads to lack of aspirations and even when they aspire to be someone good or significant in life they come across the affordability issue in terms of bearing expenses for doing career-oriented courses or international certifications that can enable them for better job prospects in life. 

Most of them seem to be the first generation of learners and hail from a poor economic stratum; hence affording higher education is also an issue. Of course, lack of awareness plays a spoilsport here too, as they do not know much about scholarships and funding/ education loan lending agencies. So, to bring students from ignorance into awareness, from apathy to aspiration and then identifying and negotiating with various agencies to bring the extravagant prices of training and certifications to affordable prices were the other challenges faced by me.

Curriculum meeting the industry standards

We are an affiliated college and hence are bound by the rules and regulation of university. However, this in no way blocks our endeavor to provide quality education to students or prevent our path in the empowerment of the students to be industry-ready. We abide by the curriculum of the university in all aspects, but in addition to it, we run a parallel stream of career-oriented courses and certification programs designed by the Industries that are themselves inventors of technologies which lead to the making of technocrats, research scholars and entrepreneurs out of students.

Read about SDES Courses & Fee

Basic qualities required in an aspirant

For me, creativity and innovative thought-processing, along with a passion to do something in life for self as well as society, is what I look for in an aspirant. Currently, the competition is very high, and my experience says that the competition is going to only grow. Hence, I want all the students to know that they must keep on learning, learn new things and brush up old concepts as well.

Methods opted to establish a relation with the students

Relation starts only after establishing an emotional connection with students, and as a teacher, what I have learned is that a good teacher in you is the key attribute to connect with the students. During this process, when you are able to prove yourself as an enabler of learning along with deliverer of knowledge, the students can easily accept you as a concerned and a caring facilitator of knowledge, then the relation is eternal. 

I am fortunate to have many such students in my life who, no matter how big a position they hold, have the same respect and affection towards me that they did as a teacher.

Placement opportunities at Sree Dattha Institute of Engineering and Science

We are already on the path of growth and have proved ourselves as a place full of learning and placement opportunities. Despite being surrounded by a couple of old-established renowned colleges, our endeavors to fetch placements for students in well-known MNCs who enrolled with lower EAMCET ranks positions Sree Dattha Institutions as a college par excellence with others in Telangana region. 

Check SDES Placement

Leadership philosophy and style of Mh. Khan

Leadership is an influence. People follow people when people whom they follow, lead them with an example. In my view, being in the education sector, one needs to imbibe and exhibit servant leadership. My leadership has a blend of styles ranging from Autocratic to transformative, to servant leadership. 

Making the ends meets - traditional and modern way of studies

I feel that the old conventional model of learning imposed by Britishers and later adopted by us Indians after freedom will not let India be creative, innovative, and inventive. It is not just minimizing the gap, but it is taking a leapfrog jump from the conventional styles to the modern pedagogy, facilitating effective learning through collaborative and active learning. 

You may be surprised to know that Sree Dattha Institutions has adopted all these modern practices much before AICTE, UGC, or other universities even started discussing it. There is a tremendous potential these practices hold in transforming students from ordinary to extraordinary!

Suggestions for the generations to come!

In today’s world, a student must not hesitate or step back from any sort of challenges. They should work on themselves and make sure to be industry ready. Make sure to be

situational aware of what is happening around you, then the outcome is bound to be what everyone calls sheer LUCK.