What Is Jio Institute & How Is It Doing So Far In EdTech?

The Jio Institute, part of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has emerged as one of the pioneering ventures in the Indian higher education sector.

The institution which was founded in 2018, was also given the title of ‘Institute of Eminence (IoE)’, by the government of India in the same year.

1. What is Jio Institute?

Jio Institute located in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, is a privately held multidisciplinary higher education institute, which was founded as a philanthropic initiative by the Reliance Group. The institute is sited on an 800 acre land.

The foundation of the institution was laid down in 2018, however the commencement of the courses started from academic year 2021.

According to the founder, Nita Ambani, “ The aim behind the Jio Institute is to make an exemplary academic institution which will have a world class platform for research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and lifelong learning”.

For this, the Jio Institute has partnered with various global scholars and universities which can provide a diversified approach and vision to students for experiencing a world class education.
The Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), has spent around Rs.1,500 crore (nearly $225 million) in setting up the university.

2. The Institute of Eminence Title

The IoE title is a recognition initiated by the University Grants Commission(UGC), to empower and enhance higher education institutions. The aim behind it is simple, i.e. to help them become world-class teaching and research institutions.

The government of India awarded the institute with the title of ‘Institute of Eminence (IoE)’ in 2018, which sparked some news around it too as at that time the institution was still on paper and hadn’t started anything.

After facing some backlash from media and public, the HRD Ministry defended it by saying that, ‘the institute is given the greenfield category tag by University Grants Commission (UGC), according to which the new proposal from any sponsoring organization or institution will be considered under this project and title’, and also after starting their academic year, the institute will provide class teaching facilities to students.
The ministry further stated that the Jio Institute is starting on a greenfield mode and they will only get a “Letter of Intent”, according to which the institute must be launched in three years.

3. Jio Institute First Academic Year

The institute in 2021 announced that they’ll be beginning their first academic year with AI courses. The first batch of the institute will begin their academics with two post graduate courses, which are

Artificial Intelligence & Data Science, and
Digital Media & Marketing Communications

The students attended the first batch hailed from around 19 states within the country and some of them were from outside the country, i.e. from Nepal, Ghana, South Africa, and Bhutan.

4. How Far the Institute Is Doing In Edtech?

The institute has become one of the well known names in the education sector in India, since the commencement of its academic year.

The answer to the question of how far the institution is doing in EdTech will comprise some factors like its collaborations with universities/teachers, departments/subject variation, facilities, laboratories, placement, etc.

(4.1) Collaborations

Jio Institute has collaborated with some well reputed institutions around the world for having some of the top faculties, for the purpose of research, development, academic excellence and initiatives for the students.

The collaborations are –

University of Toronto, Canada.
The University of Manchester, UK.
UC San Diego, USA.
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

(4.2) Departments/Subject Variations

The major subjects and departments offered by the Jio Institute under its post graduate program are-

Digital Media & Marketing Communication.
Artificial Intelligence & Data Science.
Sports Management.

Currently, the institute offers these three courses only.

(4.3) Jio Institute Facilities

The aim behind laying the foundation of the institute was to make world class education facilities available at one place. The facilities provided by the institute are as follows:

Student community and clubs,
Residential accommodation,
Digital library,
Research & Development centers,
Mentorship program,
High class sports facilities,
Cafeteria.
Well furnished hostel,
Campus life,
Medical facilities,
Multipurpose auditoriums,
Gyms, and many more.

(4.4) Laboratories for Coursework

To make students understand the application based learning and to ensure that they have practical experience throughout the programme, the institute provides them with the laboratories for research work as well as for other coursework too.

The laboratories are-

Computer lab,
Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Lab,
Research & Development lab,
Robotics lab,
Video Editing lab,
Audio Editing lab,
Production Control lab, etc.

(4.5) Placement

Not only the courses, facilities, collaborations, forms the major part of how far the institute is doing in the EdTech sector, but also the placements offered by the institute holds the same weightage.

The placement is offered by the Office of Career Service of the institution, which uses their networks, connections, and partnerships to define a meaningful interaction and engagement between the students, faculty, and the industry leaders.

Some of its placement recruiters are – Viacom18, Network18, Jio Platforms, Reliance Industries, Reliance Retail, Status Neo, Pidilite, and many more.

Apart from this, the institute also provides some scholarships over tuition fees upto 100%, and it is also provided on the basis of financial stability and needs.

Jio Institute performance in the EdTech sector can be seen through its initiatives, collaboration with top universities and faculties, industry partnerships, range of facilities provided, placement, etc. Its success in the future will ultimately depend on its ability to deliver more quality education, innovation in teaching methodologies, and to address the evolving needs of students.