At the time when Gurvinder, an ex-colleague of mine reached out on email about ShikshaDaan meeting with the Baba Farid group of institutions, we hadn’t heard of them …. and that probably sums up the challenge and the opportunity in this vast country of ours. We have great organizations doing great work, but there is little publicity outside their immediate area of work.

Baba Farid group of institutions is soon to become a university and they have been doing great work in the field of education since 1993. Currently they have 10,000 plus students in their vast campus just on the outskirts of Bathinda, at village Deon. Gurvinder works with them and Krishnan and I visited them yesterday. We had the opportunity to meet with the faculty, the office bearers and also the chairman Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal. What a humble man the chairman is …. for someone who has created an amazing institution he is unassuming and ready to accept new ideas and try different things.

Please visit their website to learn more about the various colleges that are part of the Baba Farid Group of institutions – Baba Farid Group.

Yesterday we also addressed students of class XI and XII on what lies ahead … In India, ask any child studying in class XI and XII, they would opt for an Engineering or Medical degree first and then think of other degree courses. We shared with these students 24 other career choices where they can earn well and most of them do not require an Engineering or Medical degree. When we asked if the students knew what they wanted to do in their life, most of them were unclear and unsure and thats really the situation. When they are unsure, parents, peers and seniors become their guides and often lead them to either Engineering or Medical when in reality they may not have the aptitude for either.

Will post the presentation as another blog so other students can also benefit as they think about what degree course they would like to pursue.

We enjoyed the visit and hopefully we can partner with the Baba Farid Group of institutions as we go forward to bring world class affordable education to Punjab.