Dr.Meena Bhandari is heading the ICFAI Education school as a dean at the ICFAI University dehradun campus. She has acquired her PhD in Education from Regional College of Education Ajmer. With a vast teaching experience of 30+ years, Dr.Meena Bhandari is not only a remarkable academician but also an author of many books in the field of education. She has been awared the National Women Excellence Award 2018 by North Eastern Council, Government of India in association with European Chamber of small and medium Enterprise and some of her achievements include, Prof. R.P Singh Special Educationist Award 2018 awarded by Indian Psychometric and Educational Research Association(IPERA)

  • Certificate of Merit for outstanding services in College of Education (Co Ed) Ghaziabad in 2014
  • Rashtriya Gaurav Samman Award in 2013 towards the cause of Hindi language, Indian languages, Indian culture and strengthening the unity of India
  • Certificate of Honor for Best Teacher by D.A.V. Public School Pratap Vihar, Ghaziabad 1996

ICFAI University - Dehradun

You held key positions at various prestigious institutions throughout your career. What is that one thing that made you excited and walk with ICFAI Dehradun University in the journey?

The ICFAI University is one University which has its vision on imparting quality education to the students the learning institution has a conducive learning environment. With a team of dedicated teachers. the thrust area of the University is to use their three main functions of teaching, research, and community engagement as tools to implement an employability strategy. The biggest USP of the University is a combination of freedom and leadership that it provides to staff and faculty. Another highlight is that it offers a mentoring-based education system which provides learning through knowledge enhancement, skill development along with positive attitude formation.

How do you balance the needs of faculty, students, and administration as a Dean - Education School?

As a Dean of an important department – Education I try my best to construct a professional development program, and have identified the essential administrative competencies to effectively manage the administrative functions of the role, and the preparation method to attain those essential administrative competencies. I try to follow the motto of getting the right people in order to set up high standard,s to be proactive and deliver quality teaching learning in a manner that we in our endeavour to produce quality teachers achieve our goal in an optimum manner. Another important factor that I never lose focus on is to be updated and abreast of the happenings in and around our system so that there is quality and employability for our prospective teachers.

As a Principal of school of Education what is the USP or what are the differentiating factors that make ICFAI Dehradun stand out from other education schools?

As a Principal of school of Education the USP is the focus on individual difference of the diverse students in our class. This is an important step in producing inclusiveness which is the need of the hour. This also helps in customizing the teaching as per the needs of an individual which brings out the potential in each student. In order to customize the whole process we provide guidance and counselling to the students in order to deal with the problems they might be facing and also optimize their hidden strengths and potential. After the NEP 2020 we endeavor to follow the path shown by it and the recommendations it has given to educators and try to follow the same in true letter and spirit

How does ICFAI Dehradun leverage the latest technologies and advancements to provide best teaching and learning experience to the students?

The ICFAI University Dehradun updates the internal systems by replacing outdated tools and trains its members on best practices for using new technology. We identify your target audience and implement digital marketing tools to suit their needs. We continuously improve our product tech for imparting quality learning and also training the future teachers to be techno- savy to use them in their capacity as teachers. This is very helpful in reflecting on goals and achieve our mission and fulfill our vision and is also helpful in determining the areas we can improve upon, where we can eliminate waste, what tools are available to help us and how much you can budget for technology improvements.

Check ICFAI University Courses & Fees

How well is ICFAI Dehradun focusing on maintaining relationships with organizations in order to leverage them for internships, training, and placements for the students?

We continuously aspire to maintain relationships with our industry, in our case it is the schools. We organize co-curricular activities and in involve the students of the school with our students. The training for the prospective teachers i.e. the pupil teachers commences at the very outset when the students take admission in the course. For 30 days students visit the schools and perform activities there along with observing the dynamics and working if the school. In the second year a three month rigorous training of the students takes place in the school. This gives us an opportunity for maintaining cordial relationships with the school and also helps to place our students in good schools after the completion of their course.

What measures would you take to ensure that ICFAI Dehradun University provides a conducive learning environment with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure for research and other activities?

In my opinion working culture is best when it is collaborative, inclusive, supportive and creative, when students are given time to focus on their studies and equal priority to co- scholastic activities. The environment should be created such as to ensure that leadership is transparent and open, and individuals have a sense of safety and security. We endeavor to establish support system that boosts the morale and enhance positivity in the students. The organization oozes and reflects team leaders who are role model to the students and lead by their own example.

What are the biggest challenges currently facing by education schools in general, and how do you plan to address them as a Principal?

The biggest challenges that I have faced as a Principal of ICFAI Education School is the strength of the students. With an intake of 100 students the seats filled would be barely 20. Fortunately with the hard work and dedication of the faculty at ICFAI Education School we have progressed and earned a name for ourselves of giving quality education. This word of mouth publicity has shown a positive increase in the strength of mu school. This session we have had a packed session with 100 students. Another major challenge in education sector is catering to the diverse needs and capabilities of the students understanding the different learning styles. The classroom climate should be such so as to customize the teaching learning process, celebrate diversity so that the potential of each student is brought out. Lack of professionalism among the teachers and also deficiency of good and latest infrastructure for the students. There is also lack of proper guidance to the students. The curriculum should be revised more often because it tends to get outdated very soon. Last but not the least is the employability issues that the students face after the completion of their course.

We at ICFAI Education School provide our best to create an Inclusive Environment catering to diverse needs of the students in the class. Our main thrust is providing quality education to students and make them employable.

What is your vision for the future of ICFI School of education as a dean?

ICFAI Education School is devoted and committed to educating and preparing its student teachers with the most recent knowledge and skills in the fields they have chosen against the backdrop of Indian ethos and values to enable them to face any global challenge with a view to transforming them into perceptive, honorable, and responsible citizens of this great country; and imbibe a work culture of theoretical and applied research leading to creation and dissemination of knowledge.

We work hard to train qualified teachers who can influence the lives of the nation and future citizens.