A failure does not define you, but empowers and teaches you, believes Prof. Murthy

Interview by Pratyasha

Prof. Y.V. Gopala Krishna Murty is designated as the General Secretary of ACE Engineering College. He is a graduate in Civil Engineering and holds an M.Tech degree in Structural Engineering from the University College of Engineering and NIT Warangal respectively. He is considered as the force behind the establishment of the college. Having expertise and a rich experience in various competitive exams like IES, GATE and more, he has trained various aspirants to crack these exams with glorious marks. 

In an exclusive interview with collegedunia.com, Mr. Krishna Murthy shares the secret behind his versatile nature and leadership philosophy.

Thoughts on the education industry

During my academic years, I was selected for UPSC Engineering Services, but a typical career was not enough for me. I strongly believed in the ideology that ‘A real teacher lets his/her students think for themselves’. After identifying where I could lend my invaluable contribution to education and society, I established ACE Engineering College in 2007. Through this opportunity, I had the chance to shape and change the present-day scenario of the country through our upcoming generation. 

As an educationist, I am always looking to innovate as it is essential to add to pedagogical methods without losing focus to deliver the best quality and produce successful students. Education should be resourceful enough to guide a student and at the same time, restore student’s confidence in independently dealing with a similar situation when it arises in the future.

What makes it the best - Education is important for the personal, social and economic development of the nation.

Methods opted to overcome the current employability situation in India

I have faced many challenges in my tenure, and one among them is the shift in the education sector. With the increasing competition, the need to provide quality education and generate positive learning outcomes has become challenging. To overcome this hurdle, ACE College has introduced a skill development and employability program, namely “The Butterfly.” This program nurtures students by offering year-wise additional inputs to the students along with the syllabus. 

Though competition in the field of technical education is fierce, ACE has made significant progress in terms of enhancing access to and participation in teaching, by managing cultural differences among the students. There are many persisting concerns and challenges relating to the quality of the education imparted, equity in education, system efficiency, governance and management, research and development, and financial commitment to education development - a significant challenge which ACE could succeed. 

Value-based curriculum practices at the college

The college has been proactive in inculcating a sense of responsibility in the budding engineers along with the necessary academic inputs. Training methodologies are a perfect blend of traditional talk-chalk and audio-visual resources. Regular classroom teaching is well supported by both guided and self-study supplementary resources. Students are guided, helped, and mentored to evolve into professional graduates. They are also provided with the necessary cognitive skills as well as behavioural skills in addition to the required technological skills for head start of their professional career.

First reaction of the students when they start a program

When they first start the program, it is surprising for them as the syllabus is mostly practical and has less of theory. Most of the students in their early academic years are trained theoretically and lack real-life experience, so they initially feel uncomfortable to adjust to a new environment. 

Read about ACEEC Courses & fee

Minimising the gap between traditional studies and modern way studies

The field of value education is as broad as human life itself. In India during Ramayana or Mahabharata period values were taught to the child along with formal education in Gurukuls, where Guru or Priest teaches the students at their Ashrams through different methods and prepares them to face the life. 

In modern days, we have become “Gurus in the age of Google” and the institutions of higher education have a major role to play in preparing the younger generation for promising future. Apart from imparting quality education has to instil ethical, moral and social values amongst the student fraternity as values are the auto-regulators of human behaviour and One’s vision remains restricted to oneself only without value education. It is the value education which develops the competence of recognising the universality of human aims and aspirations. Values give a person his individuality and character.

Teaching and learning are two different processes which are well connected. Learning is a process in the mind of the students where comprehension and understanding are generated. Learning has meaning when the student understands the concept. Teaching on the other hand, requires imparting of knowledge in a manner that helps the learner to construct meaning from it. This requires the teacher and the student to have some kind of interaction. This is the key to successful teaching and learning.ACE always believes and follows a right mixture of traditional and modern ways of teaching and learning.

Mutual respect and trust helps in building a strong relation with the students

In today’s scenario, a teacher’s role is a method of teaching that utilizes techniques to facilitate education. It is a holistic teaching method designed to integrate critical thought, examination of emotion and moral values and factual data to broaden the learning experience and make it more relevant to everyday life situations.

It has become the need of the hour to establish a cordial and a positive relationship between a teacher and a student. With changing times, we as teachers, need to adopt new and updated strategies to deal with students.

I believe, mutual respect and trust are at the foundation of any lasting relationship. Student-teacher interaction that is based merely on academic progress or behaviour management creates inhibitions within a student and stifles true relationship-building. Those teachers who show respect towards their students and a keenness to help them through their difficulties become the object of respect themselves and trigger a drive among students to learn, become successful and make their teachers proud.

A teacher is no longer a ‘sage on the stage’, but ‘a guide on the side’

A teacher can transform a raw human being into a creative and sensitive citizen. S/he can learn the greatest lessons in humility, power of positivity, and strength of conviction from their students. Also, the emphasis has been shifted from Teacher-centered to a Learner-centric classroom. In this case, a teacher wears several hats and extend their sphere of influence even beyond the walls of the school. 

Placement Opportunities at ACE Engineering College

The academic excellence at ACE Engineering College is reflected in its student’s exemplary record in the corporate and engineering sectors. Strong Industry-Institute interactions have resulted in getting some of the renowned MNCs to the institute and conduct on-campus recruitment drives. The placement committee has adopted a very systematic approach towards training and building the career of its students that plans and implements the placement activities throughout the year.

The college invites more than 1000 top companies from across the country every year and have developed strong relationships with them. This interaction equips the placement team of ACE to provide suitable career planning to the students. It also helps to increase recruitment percentage and maintain active industry contacts. There has also been a steady increase in compensation and the number of recruiting companies every year. The major programs that our placement cell actively work on are – 

• Key Activities: pre-placement talks and workshops
• Internships: summer internships combined with academic inputs with practical training 
• Strong Interface: Placement committee organizes Industry interaction programs with professionals from various sectors.

Click here ACE Engineering College Placement

You aren’t defined by your failures, you’re empowered by them

In the increasing competition, students need to build self-esteem and confidence to fight the world. They must have their way for self-sustained learning, follow their passion and pursue their dreams. If necessary, students can take counseling and guidance from their teachers. However, they must lead their path and achieve success.