Insights

When Ananya’s Class 5 report came home, her parents skimmed past the Cambridge Checkpoint section. No grades. No ranks. No obvious pass or fail. “It’s not a board exam,” they told her. “Don’t worry too much.” Three years later, when Ananya entered the IGCSE curriculum, the worry arrived anyway, struggling with application-based questions, unfamiliar exam patterns, and confidence dips that seemed to appear overnight.

Education experts say this story is more common than parents realise. Cambridge Checkpoint assessments in Classes 5 and 8 are often treated as optional milestones, but in reality, they are designed to act like early warning systems, quietly showing where a child is thriving and where support is needed, long before academic pressure peaks.

Not a Test, but a Mirror

Unlike traditional exams, Cambridge Checkpoints don’t exist to label students as toppers or underperformers. Instead, they work more like a mirror. They reflect how well a student understands concepts in English, Mathematics, and Science, and how confidently they can apply that knowledge.

A teacher from a Cambridge school in Bengaluru recalls a Class 8 student who consistently scored well in internal exams but struggled in Checkpoints. “The report showed gaps in reasoning, not memory,” she explains. “We corrected it early. By the time he reached IGCSE, he was far more confident.”

That early course correction is exactly what Checkpoints are meant for.

Small Interventions, Big Impact

For many families, the real value of Checkpoints becomes clear only in hindsight. A Mumbai parent shares how her son’s Class 5 Checkpoint report flagged weak comprehension skills—something school tests had missed. “We worked on it slowly, without pressure. By Class 8, the improvement was obvious,” she says. “Had we ignored it, the struggle would have shown up much later.”

Experts often compare Checkpoints to routine health check-ups. Skipping them doesn’t cause immediate harm—but problems left unnoticed tend to grow.

A Smoother Road to Senior Classes

As India sees a steady rise in Cambridge schools, more students are stepping into international curricula that demand critical thinking rather than rote answers. Checkpoints help make that transition smoother. Students become familiar with question styles, time management, and analytical thinking early on, so senior secondary exams don’t feel like a sudden shock.

In the words of one education counsellor, “Students who take Checkpoints seriously rarely panic later. They’ve already seen the road ahead.”

Where Parents Make the Difference

The assessments themselves carry no pass-or-fail pressure. What makes the difference is how adults respond. Parents who sit down with the report, talk through strengths and weaknesses, and work with schools to address gaps often see calmer, more confident learners emerge over time.

Ignoring Checkpoints may feel harmless in the moment. But as many parents discover later, those “low-stakes” exams are often the safest place to stumble, learn, and grow—before the stakes get real.

Interdisciplinary courses combine engineering with AI ethics, or business with sustainability, topping searches for "best interdisciplinary degrees India." They're booming, as jobs demand multi-skilled grads-perfect for Indian students eyeing  careers in tech, healthcare, and green energy. Here's why switching to interdisciplinary courses beats traditional single-major paths.​

What are Interdisciplinary Courses?

Interdisciplinary courses combine two or more disciplines into one course for practical problem-solving, for example, B. Tech in AI + Data Science, or BA in Liberal Arts with Psychology + Economics. Unlike contemporary degrees, these courses let you pick modules from sciences, humanities, and commerce and earn an integrated degree. In India, UGC pushes these via NEP 2020 for flexible credits and over 500 colleges now offer them, from DU's honours programs to private unis like OP Jindal.​

Top Benefits for Indian Students

These courses build versatile skills employers want in their employees. As per different sources,  70% of Indian jobs require cross-domain knowledge, and interdisciplinary graduates earn a starting salary that is 20-30% more (₹8-12 LPA) against ₹6 LPA for traditional streams. They address big problems like climate change (env sci + policy) or digital India (CS + governance). Plus, shorter paths to masters like integrated M.Tech-PhD save time and fees.

• Job Edge: Infosys, TCS hire for jobs like data ethicist (Tech + Philosophy)
• Innovation Boost: Startups like Swiggy hire people with knowledge in tech with logistics.
• Global Fit: Aligns with QS rankings, which favour multi-disciplinary unis.

Challenges and How to Overcome Them 

• Not all colleges have strong infra; pick NAAC A+ ones.
• NEP's interdisciplinary flexibility helps retain students, with IIT dropout at 1% vs national UG average 12% (AISHE/UDISE).
• Parents worry about "no clear major," but grads of such interdisciplinary courses say it opened more doors. 
• Pursuing such a course from a lesser known university is not worth it; take admission into a renowned university for better mindset, environment, placement and opportunities.  

Who should choose interdisciplinary courses? 

Go for it, if you're curious, want future-proofing of your career amid the ongoing AI revolution, or come from Tier-2 cities that lack single-stream excellence. Avoid if you want laser-like focus just like pure MBBS. 

In short, Indian youth in the 18-24 age group, searching "interdisciplinary courses after 12th", will dominate jobs by 2030. Interdisciplinary courses are reshaping India's education in 2026 and beyond. So, realise the need and choose the right course as well as college to build a lucrative career. 

Are you someone taking the NIFT entrance exam? Is your google history full of searches like “NIFT preparation in 1 month” and “how to crack NIFT in 30 days?” Your search ends here. It’s natural to do this as NIFT 2026 Phase 1 is approaching in January and the cutoff required is a minimum of 82+ GAT score. But worry not, following are the proven strategies for clearing NIFT entrance test. No broad hints here, but only a definite daily plan.

How to Crack the NIFT Entrance Test?

There are two phases of NIFT: GAT (General Ability Test -100 marks, 2 hours) and CAT (Creative Aptitude Test -100 marks, 2 hours drawing). There is negative marking with -0.25 and thus answering randomly can back fire. CAT drawing decides your final rank, so give it 60% time. Remember these 2 things and start following the weekly plan for studying: 

Week 1: GAT Foundation (Day 1-7)

Start with 6 hours of daily study. In the morning (between 9 to 12) you should concentrate on Quantitative Aptitude. Learn Vedic Math's 16 sutras and practice squares from 1 to 31 in 2 minutes (11²=121, 12²=144). Ensure to practice at least 50 questions daily around profit-loss as well as percentage. 

Then comes Reasoning which requires practice in 5 repeating patterns: cube cutting, paper folding, series of figures, clock problems, and analogies. For the English section, learn 50 root words every day such as bene (good), mal (bad), chron (time). For the comprehension section, practice with some latest editorials, read newspapers, and some past years comprehensions for understanding purpose.

Keep your afternoons for GK and Current Affairs; from 1920 Chanel No.5 to 2025 Met Gala. Learn 50 brand logos (LV, Gucci) and awards (Padma, National). Keep your evening for 1 hour freehand drawing for human body parts and figures in different poses. Use only HB and 2B pencils. At the end of Week 1, complete 2 full GAT mocks with a score of above 45. Complete 35 figure drawings. 

Week 2: Master CAT Drawing skills (Day 8-14)

CAT is your rank maker, don’t mess it up by not taking it seriously. Follow 15-45-30 rule: 15 minutes planning (read question 3 times, note 5 keywords, make quick thumbnail), 45 minutes main drawing with 1/2/3 point perspective, and 30 minutes colouring using complementary pairs like red-green.

Everyday in the morning take time-bounded GAT sectional tests: 25 questions QR in 30 minutes, 25 Reasoning in 30 minutes. In the afternoon solve 2 full CAT papers on themes such as the utility of the broken glass bottle or childhood toy redesign. In the evening, solve 1 past year CAT question paper of 2018-2024.

Other than that, make human figures to life-size (head is 1/8th of body), compose by the rule of thirds, and practise hatching and cross-hatching, to create shading. NIFT recycles 70% such themes as pollution solutions and festival posters.

Week 3: Full Mock Tests and Error Fixing (Days 15-21) 

This is the week when you need to simulate a real exam.From 7 to 10 AM, take a full GAT mock followed by 1 hour analysis. Track errors in a notebook: more than 5 QR mistakes means revise squares 20-50, low Reasoning scores need cube and paper folding practice.

11 AM to 2 PM Afternoon, solve 2 CAT papers and analyse colour and mood boards. Between 4 and 6 PM, update error log and find solutions to 50 questions of high weightage. Evening drawing on such themes as Diwali festival or environment-friendly posters.

Mock analysis checklist: In case QR errors are more than 5 revisit percentage shortcuts. Cube reasoning below 20 implies cube reasoning only. Partial CAT requires the practice of thumbnails in 3 minutes. Running out of time? Mark to review 3 difficult questions.

Week 4: Exam Prep (Days 22-30)

Day 22 to Day 27, take 2 full mocks a day that mixes GAT and CAT. When GAT score is less than 75, assign it 2 additional hours. 

1. Weak shading? Exercise 10-tone scale black to white.
2. Packing things for your exam: HB, 2B, 4B, 6B pencils (Apsara or Nataraj), Camel white eraser, 2-hole sharpener, 2 Pilot V5 blue pens and 15cm clear scale.
3. GAT plan: QR first (20 minutes) then no difficult Reasoning cubes, English last.
4. Read the question  3 times, plan 15 minutes with humans of life-size, maximum 3 colours, submit 10 minutes early in order to be reviewed.

What to do 3 days before the NIFT exam?

Day 28 light revision and 8 hours sleep, Day 29 one easy GAT mock, Day 30 check stationery and relax.

5 secrets of NIFT Toppers

• Vedic Math for squares 1-100 gives 15 extra QR marks. 
• Memorise 100 human poses for CAT 20 marks boost. 
• Previous year questions from 2018-2024 repeat 70% themes,. 
• If your mock scores are not improving by at least 10 marks week on week, review your mistakes and adjust your strategy
• Sleep for 7 hours because that’s what will help your brain work properly. .

Follow this NIFT strategy and see your skills+ knowledge meet the standards of NIFT toppers. Be consistent and genuine if you really want to crack the design entrance test. These strategies are highly recommended to those students who have skills, knowledge but don’t know where to start from. So, start today and pursue your desired career in the field of Design. 

Management education in India has been transformed from a system oriented towards control and efficiency to a modern philosophy of creativity, adaptability, and systems thinking.

From a few courses in commerce and administration, the management education in India has transformed into a dynamic, globally competitive ecosystem creating leaders and entrepreneurs.

XLRI Jamshedpur, the country's first management school, was set up in 1949, at a time when the country was seeking to build managerial capacity to drive economic development. Support from MIT and Harvard enabled the first IIMs to follow in the 1960s. Another major shift came with Liberalisation, which opened global markets and created an exponential demand for skilled managers.

The concept of business leadership has evolved down the generations, and equally so have the b-schools. What began as a discipline centred around control, efficiency and functional mastery has today emerged as a philosophy of creativity, adaptability and systems thinking.

Earlier generations learned how to work within scale, sustain efficiency, and optimise within known systems. Curricula concentrated on many aspects of business and organisational theory. Case studies are predominantly from western corporations, where students learn how to function within the existing systems rather than how to invent new ones. Success was defined as mastering established frameworks. Ethics and sustainability were electives if discussed at all.

The archetypal MBA was about predictability. Hierarchies were stable, the markets slower, and competitive advantage came from planning. The classroom was designed for debate, not experimentation. The ultimate aspiration was the corporate climb—a linear journey defined by loyalty and competence.

Along came globalization and digitisation, and everything changed. B-schools realised that stability was a myth; disruption was the new normal. The classroom expanded beyond borders through international immersion programmes. Technology moved from peripheral to central—spreadsheets gave way to Python and R, static reports evolved into dashboards and simulations.

During both the dot-com boom and the financial crisis in 2008, the schools taught their graduates how to tell hype from fundamentals. Understanding cash flow, sustainability, and stakeholder communication during crises proved invaluable-skills which had mattered afresh in Covid-19.

"Management education in India has evolved from theoretical to experiential, tech-driven and globally connected," Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD and CEO, CIEL HR, said. "Today, b-schools are preparing students for an unpredictable world where adaptability, innovation and data literacy matter as much as domain expertise."

Business education has entered a phase of deep reflection; the modern b-school has become a laboratory for leadership, where students design new systems. They learn to grow impact, not just profits.

"Students these days learn through data simulations, live projects, and cross-border collaborations," said Mishra. "The best programmes aim to build curiosity, empathy and communication alongside technical fluency. The graduates are now workplace-ready, equipped to contribute from day one."

Climate change, inequality, and social justice are reshaping the moral vocabulary of management today. ESG issues find their place in strategy courses. Entrepreneurship is no longer just about profit but also covers climate ventures, fintechs, and social enterprises that reimagine value creation.

Learning has turned experiential in nature through consulting projects, simulations, and startup incubators. Instructors have turned facilitators. And the result is a new kind of leader-one conversant with analytics, yet fluent in empathy.

"Sustainability, leadership and ESG principles will become integral," said Sathya Pramod, founder of KayEss Square Consulting and former CFO, Tally Solutions. "Indian management education will see more international partnerships, flexible programmes and a focus on entrepreneurship-preparing students not just to manage but to lead change."

The digital revolution has democratized business knowledge. Online education platforms such as Coursera and edX have democratised MBA curricula, creating pressure on legacy institutions to redefine their value proposition. Management schools are innovation hubs where thinkers of different types come together-a transition from delivering degrees to delivering ecosystems of lifelong learning.

Technology is no longer merely a tool but a teacher. Artificial intelligence provides personalized learning paths and real-time feedback. Large language models and predictive analytics are used by students to design experiments, simulate markets, and test strategies-not to supplant human judgment but to augment it.

The next frontier is about adaptive intelligence: with AI, climate change, and geopolitical shifts rewriting the rules, managers need to think in systems, act with humility, and learn all the time. The classroom of the future is a global network of minds co-creating solutions in real time.

 Where once the curriculum ended with a degree, today it begins a lifelong process. In this transition from control to creativity, from profit to purpose, management education has become a mirror of the human condition—constantly changing, questioning, and endeavoring to make meaning out of a world in motion. On the following pages are their thoughts—the collective wisdom of more than five decades of experience.

A new analysis of higher education enrolment in India shows that over the last decade, caste representation has indeed changed dramatically, with a majority across universities and colleges now comprising students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.

Based on 13 years of the All-India Survey of Higher Education, or AISHE, the findings challenge long-standing claims regarding "upper-caste dominance" in this sector.

A study by the Centre for Development Policy and Management at IIM Udaipur (CDPM) draws on AISHE data from 2010–11 to 2022–23, covering 60,380 institutions and 43.8 million students.

The dataset, described by researchers Venkatramanan Krishnamurthy, Thiyagarajan Jayaraman, and Dina Banerjee, is among the most comprehensive assessments of caste representation in Indian higher education.

"This report breaks many of the conventional myths about the social profile of students in Indian higher education," said Prof. Krishnamurthy. 

American sociologist Dr. Salvatore Babones welcomed the findings and observed that the paper “lays out the data on access to higher education by caste category” and should inform India’s reservation debates. Former Chief Justice B.R. Gavai is quoted in the report as again calling for extending the creamy-layer principle to SC and ST communities as well, out of concern that repeated benefits to the same families could create “a class within a class.”

Co-author Thiyagarajan echoed the concern, saying that AISHE data shows that opportunities for SC, ST, and OBC students are now “above average,” and the focus should shift to ensuring equitable distribution within these groups.

CasteFiles's analysis of the same dataset, cited in the report, found that the SC/ST/OBC students comprise 62.2 per cent enrolment in government institutions and 60 per cent in private institutions, signalling a widespread demographic shift.

 This means that social policy needs to be evidence-driven if it is going to remain effective, Dr. Babones said. The study published by CDPM of IIM Udaipur was available for researchers, journalists, and policymakers examining the long-term structural changes in Indian higher education.

Maya Devi University, Dehradun offers a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma courses across multiple disciplines, catering to diverse academic interests and career goals. The university emphasizes industry-aligned curricula, modern infrastructure, and practical exposure to prepare students for competitive job markets.

Courses Offered at MDU

Undergraduate courses 

School of Computer Engineering and Applications

• B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering with IBM (4 years)
• B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering (AIML) with IBM (4 years)
• B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering (Data Science) with IBM (4 years)
• B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering (Cyber Security & Forensics) with IBM (4 years)
• B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering (General, AIML, Data Science, Cyber Security)
• BCA and specialized BCA programs in AIML, Data Science, Cyber Security

School of Hotel Management and Tourism

• Bachelor of Hotel Management (BHM)
• BHM Lateral Entry
• Bachelor of Hotel Management & Catering Technology (BHMCT) and Lateral Entry

School of Engineering

• B.Tech Mechanical Engineering (Mechatronics)
• B.Tech Civil Engineering (General and Structural Engineering)
• B.Tech ECE (VLSI & Embedded System, Robotics & AI)
• B.Tech Aerospace Engineering
• Lateral entry programs for diploma holders in relevant streams

School of Commerce and Management

• BBA specializations include Human Resources, Aviation Management, Marketing Management, FinTech, Digital Marketing, Logistic Management
• B.Com Finance and B.Com Taxation and Accounting

School of Life and Applied Sciences

• B.Sc Non-Medical (PCM), Medical (CBZ), and specializations like Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Zoology, Botany, Environmental Science
• B.Sc Forensic Science and B.Sc (Hons) Forensic Science
• B.Sc Microbiology, Biotechnology, and their honors courses

School of Pharmacy

• B.Pharm and lateral entry
• M.Pharm in Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacology

School of Agriculture and Technology

• B.Sc (Hons) Agriculture and Horticulture
• B.Sc Food Technology and advanced honors

School of Health Sciences and Paramedical

• B.Sc Medical Lab Technology, Radio Imaging Technology, Operation Theatre Technology, Cardiac Care Technology, Dialysis Technology, Anaesthesia Technology
• Diploma programs in various specializations

School of Arts and Humanities

• BA programs in Yoga, Maths, Psychology, English, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Hindi, Geography, Fine Arts, Journalism & Mass Communication

School of Skill Development and Vocational Studies

• Bachelor programs in E-commerce & Digital Marketing, Bakery & Pastry Arts, Sales & Marketing, Food Production, Pharma Assistance, Computer Technology

School of Nursing

• B.Sc Nursing

School of Law and Legal Studies

• Integrated BA LLB, BBA LLB, and LLB

School of Education

• Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)

Postgraduate Programs

• M.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering specializations
• MCA and MCA specializations (AIML, Data Science, Cybersecurity)
• M.Sc in various science disciplines including Forensic Science
• MBA in multiple specializations
• Master's programs in hotel management, engineering, commerce, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences

Diploma Programs

• Diploma in Bakery & Confectionery, Food Production
• Diploma in Pharmacy
• Diplomas related to Rehabilitation, Prosthetics & Orthotics, Indian Sign Language, Nursing Assistant

Maya Devi University offers eligibility criteria mostly requiring 10+2 or equivalent with specific stream requirements for undergraduate courses, and bachelor's degrees in related fields for postgraduate enrollments. Many programs demand minimum marks around 45-50%. The university also facilitates lateral entry options for diploma holders.

This extensive and diverse course portfolio at Maya Devi University positions it as a hub for professional, technical, and vocational education, aligned with industry demands and equipped for fostering future-ready graduates.