A prominent and much respected Parsi in the global business community, Adi Godrej is known as the chairman of the 100-year old Godrej group and President of several Indian Trade and Industrial bodies and associations.
But not many know that he is an educationist to the core and offers exceptional support for its spread in the country. Education is close to his heart. And it is this love for the cause of education that has placed Godrej as a member of the governing board of Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, with a similar position on the National Council of the confederation of the Indian Industry and the FICCI national Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the MIT Sloan School of Management, Boston, Chairman of the board of Governors of the Narsee Monjee Institute of The ADC managed to get a few words with him about his views on the many Indians occupying top positions at various national and international educational institutes.
“The prominent positions many Indians hold as Deans of well known business schools is certainly a very valuable development for the country. Our education minister, Kapil Sibal, has also taken many initiatives to modernize and extend educational opportunities in the country.”
Speaking about the changes that need to be done to improve the current education system, Mr. Godrej says, “Universal access to educational opportunities will be a very important factor in the development of the country. We need to invest strongly in the education sector both in the public and private sector. We should ensure that in a matter of a few years there is no illiteracy under the age of 15 in the country. We should also ensure that a significant proportion of the high school graduates access university education.”