Need Robust Solutions to Bridge Gap Between Academia-Industry Requirement, Says Ashish Munjal

Lack of industry-relevant curriculum, practical experience and employment centric education has become even more prominent in the semi-urban, rural parts of India. Sunstone was envisioned to bridge this gap, says Sunstone co-founder and CEO Ashish Munjal in an exclusive interview with Reshmi AR.

When did you hit upon this winning idea?

The idea of Sunstone was conceived by observing a pertinent industry-academia gap that has resulted in today’s youth having ‘acquired knowledge’ rather than possessing the ‘required knowledge’. 

I come from a small town in Meerut where I did my schooling and under graduation. So I have experienced and witnessed the education system of masses closely. Although I was fortunate to be able to get into a good MBA college and get a good start. I wanted to contribute to the ecosystem I came from. If you could provide students with good/equivalent opportunities back then, a lot of them could have done well too. This is the story of India. We have a lot of potential but we need to find ways to channel it successfully. 

So, we realized that the skill gap in our country is an escalating problem that is directly related to the development of a nation and an individual. Lack of industry-relevant curriculum, practical experience and employment centric education has become even more prominent in the semi-urban, rural parts of India. 

Hence, Sunstone was envisioned as a platform that would bridge all the above gaps and catalyze the process of making higher education relevant for the industry and would solve the issue of quality and relevant education in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. 

Up-skilling students for employability is the need of the hour. How does sunstone intend to bridge the skill gap?

Sunstone aims to provide industry-centric training intervention in tandem with the fast-paced changes in the industries and takes a skill-first approach in which students obtain practical experiences through industry integration via immersive internships and projects, access to training and advanced certifications, master classes from industry experts, and active portfolio building.  

Sunstone has a robust network of 1000+ recruiters providing 2000+ job opportunities. With its 100+ hours of job-focused boot camps and 50+ guaranteed interviews, and professional assistance in crafting CVs, we ensure that students get all the help they need for securing a placement.  

Could you tell us more about your business model and how it works?

Sunstone is a higher-education startup that works alongside universities and colleges to provide training interventions that are imparted alongside different degree courses. At the time of its inception, Sunstone focused on MBA alone to bridge the gap between employability and education. But over time we realised that to offer a more holistic solution, it is important to join early on in a student’s educational journey. Therefore today, we offer a plethora of/mix of both UG and PG courses in addition to MBA such as BBA, BCA, B Tech and MCA. 

We have a hybrid education delivery model, where students can get the advantages of classroom education, networking, and extracurricular activities while also learning online from industry experts and get access to digital courses. Sunstone further provides soft skills training, portfolio building, and access to interest based clubs, talks, events, fests, and more. Through our hybrid model, we have combined the best of both worlds where students can receive the experience & learning of offline and online education. Therefore, students that choose to enroll with Sunstone will receive the added advantage of Sunstone’s employability-oriented certifications and training in addition to the standard coursework/curriculum of the university classroom. 

Further, we are focused on expanding this course list to include more popular/niche programs. For this, we are hiring trainers and developing content that best compliments a program and the career track it offers.  

Do you take insights from industry experts before creating training modules?

Sunstone employs a three-step approach to obtain industry insights prior to module creation.

Sunstone actively engages with a network of academic Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The SMEs are either active practitioners or previously employed in the sector or function. SMEs provide insights into the optimal structure of the course and the required learnings for students at the undergraduate or postgraduate level.

Sunstone organizes an industry screening workshop where current senior leaders across sectors and job roles are invited to scrutinize the outcomes framework prepared by Sunstone.

Critical insights derived at this stage are skills to focus on for specific sectors or job roles. In addition, the exercise allows Sunstone to identify the demand for new skills or subject knowledge in candidates.

Sunstone has a continuous recruiter feedback mechanism. This allows industry recruiters to provide information on requirements, gaps in candidate domain knowledge, and gaps in candidate communication skills for candidates from Sunstone. This feedback is taken to develop immediate modules for remedial and adjustments to existing models.

What does your typical course module involve?

Sunstone provides several collaterals that are embedded into the module. Each module is organized under a larger concept umbrella within the subject. The module is further broken down into 4-5 sessions.

Each session delivered is 1.5 Hours long and contains active teaching delivery with a “Collab” collateral for in-class group activities. 

In addition, students are provided with a Pre-Kit containing pre-read information and foundational videos.

Each class is supplemented with a post-class tutorial consisting of application-oriented case study activities, revision worksheets, and graded quizzes.

Do you periodically track students' progress?

Sunstone’s courses and certification courses comprise five Course Learning Outcomes (herein CLOs) that measure and track skill proficiency and competencies at different levels. These outcomes are constantly tracked through three distinct measurement properties; 

Formative Assessments – part of the course measuring student learning at the end of each module.

Sunstone BMEs – three distinct assessments at the start, middle and end of a course to track student application of learnings from the baseline to the end of the course. The assessment employs industry scenarios to measure the application of the course learning in real-world scenarios.

Sunstone Competency Evaluation Levels (CELs) – Sunstone tracks all students throughout the program on employability skills. Sunstone’s IP Skills Taxonomy and Framework measures students on 150+ technical and professional aptitudes, mindsets, behaviours, and abilities. This framework is developed based on appropriate feedback from industry partners and internal reliability and validity procedures. 

This provides significant information to recruiters on each student that has completed the program. Recruiters also have information symmetry on various candidate profiles, which include performance, engagement, mindset, technical skills, and professional skill metrics.

What's the success rate of your upskill programme?

Our upskill program demonstrates growing success captured through, 

(1) Improving placement performance every year; and 

(2) Growing and repeated use of Sunstone as a single stop hiring solution for organizations. 

Organization's use of Sunstone for this solution validates the growing success of the learners and the program. In addition, student performance has gradually improved from more training-based roles as initial placement opportunities to starting as full-time employees. Little to no training required by the hiring organization demonstrates improving readiness of the learners for an eventual zero day deployment in the market.

Finally, increasing numbers and feedback from recruiters on top learners also demonstrates realized and potential career progression of Sunstone students in the employment market. Continued improvement in the career progression of a Sunstone learner also remains a key success factor of the upskill program.

So far, we have placed 5000+ students and some of our top recruiters are Genpact, Morningstar, PayU, IBM, TCS, Zivame, DTDC, HDFC Life, BDO, FIITJEE, Club Mahindra amongst others.

Do you think academic institutions are doing enough to upskill their faculty members? 

The India Skills Report (ISR), released earlier this year, noted that only 45.9% of graduates are found employable, highlighting a clear need for robust solutions to bridge the gap between academia and industry requirements. While there is a clear need to focus on the upskilling of students, ensuring faculty members adapt as per the changing demands is also equally necessary. It is not possible for higher-education institutes to update and change the curriculum so frequently. The changes in the industry are very fast and advanced. The existing gap between students and teachers was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, Teachers have to adopt the latest technology and methods to teach online.

Sunstone is a student-centric, student-first organization, therefore, we believe that our customer is the student. For our students to grow, it is important for the faculty to learn and grow as well. The faculty is the everyday touchpoint for students and learning. Teachers need upskilling to understand and implement new-age pedagogies such as concept-based and experiential learning. 

Do you think there exists a skill gap in students who graduate from Tier II and Tier I cities? 

The Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2018, said that over 25% of students in class 8th are unable to read a text that is in standard II, while only 28% of standard III students could perform subtraction. This is the challenge at primary and middle schooling that ultimately results in lack of adequate skills at the higher education level. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s  ‘Youth in India 2022’ report said that Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, experienced a rise in proportion of youth population to total population till 2021, along with Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and now these states are projected to have over half (52%) of the country’s youth. When we also factor in the unemployment crisis that is plaguing India, it is clear that there is a need to address the skill-gap that persists in the Tier-2 and 3 cities of India.

According to India Skills Report 2023, the top 10 cities with highest employability were Mumbai, Lucknow, Mangalore, New Delhi, Pune, Faridabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Bellary, and Kurnool. Out of the 10, 8 are clearly tier-I cities that have the most skilled and employable youth. These statistics represent the level of skill gap between tier-1 and other cities in the country. 

With India’s Tier-II and Tier-III cities exploding with youth populations, there is a need to bring the job market to these cities and put a stop to youth migration towards Tier-1 cities. There is a skill gap overall but tier-I cities offer you a lot of opportunities – with respect to education and employment as compared to tier-II cities. There are a few legacy institutes present in tier -I cities such as the IIMs, IITs, and more which continue to hold a very tight grip on the placement and recruiter network. But beyond these institutes, there is a significant proportion of the population studying in tier-II/tier-III cities without access to relevant information and networks. This is where Sunstone’s offerings come into place - we are not only focused on bridging the skill gap at large but the skill and opportunity gap between metros and cities and towns of this country. Given the presence of a sizeable youth in non-metro spheres, it is necessary to look beyond tier-I cities to enable and promote relevant industry-oriented education and opportunities for Indian youth.  

How has Sunstone benefitted the workforce in Tier II and III cities? 

Sunstone has enabled national and international level exposure for its students through its programs like Global Immersion Program and participation in conferences. This year Sunstone initiated a Global Immersion Program for their students in Dubai. Aimed at imparting experiential learning and helping them gain real-life insights into the startup world. These students were offered an opportunity to learn from industry experts. We also trained and aided four of our students to participate in the esteemed Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) Asia Conference 2022, an event curated by the Harvard University-based student organization.  

With its 1000+ network of recruiters, Sunstone has brought students closer to career opportunities and its placement support has enabled students to build upon those opportunities. Sunstone students have been placed in known big companies such as Zivame, FIITJEE, Mahindra, HDFC Life, ANZ Bank and more. Through our offerings, our aim remains the same which is to provide Education that works and leads to employability plus learnings for our students. 

Do you think the course modules in colleges lack industry-relevant curriculum? 

Absolutely. The gap between students graduating with degrees and those who are able to find a job, is a testament to the fact that there is a problem with the higher education institutes. It is not possible for institutes to constantly keep updating their curriculum owing to lack of infrastructure etc., and hence there is a need to bridge the industry-academia gap. According to the India Skill’s Report, the country’s employable workforce has increased from 46.2% to 50.3% which means that 50.3% of people were found to be employable as compared to the last year’s data and about half of the graduating students remain jobless due to lack of skills. 

The growth in demand for professional courses has always hinted at a need for ‘employment-centric’ education and there is a severe need to constantly update course modules to meet industry demands.

With unemployment hitting alarming rates, how important is it for colleges to impart employment-centric education? 

It is pertinent for higher-education to adapt to the changing needs of students and industry. Companies and recruiters are placing far superior  value on skills rather than degrees and the education system must catch up with the pace of this change. 

Employment-centric education includes industry knowledge, skills – both soft & technical, and some practical industry experience. With rising awareness, students are also pivoting towards colleges and universities that provide them with a holistic learning experience. Students are taking up internships and projects to build their industry knowledge. Higher education must integrate and actively provide such learnings and opportunities for its students.  According to a recent report, 50% of recruiters are using skills to search for possible candidates for job roles. With changing hiring practices and student needs, higher education must incorporate employment-centric education.  

What do you think is the reason behind the supply-demand mismatch in the job market? 

Due to a lack of futuristic skills, 53% of Indian businesses were unable to hire candidates in 2019. The educational system is an archaic one and there has not been much effort in making it relevant to the industry. This in turn creates students who are graduates but are not suitable for the job-market, this in addition to infrastructural gaps and zero to no awareness around what courses to pick in  order to attain a particular job are few of the reasons for this gap. An imbalance exists between a candidate’s skills and available job opportunities. 

Responses attributed by Mr Ashish Munjal, Co-Founder & CEO, Sunstone