Establishment of Maharashtra Academy of Engineering & Educational Research (MAEER) - a society and charitable trust - in Pune in 1983 was a major event in the educational scenario of the city and the state. Maharashtra, the third largest state in the country in terms of area and second largest in terms of population, has a rich cultural and historical heritage. It is known as the land of saints as well as great leaders that changed the course of socio-economic discourse in the country. But, at the time of inception of MAEER, a lot more needed to be done in the field of education, especially in the private sector.
With this realization, started the journey of MAEER, with the establishment of Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) - one of the first private engineering colleges in the state - which still remains the flagship institute of MIT Group, the name with which this educational conglomerate is known today. The sole objective has been to meet the long-felt need of having a centre of scientific and educational research, which would meet the technological challenges of the fast changing world.
Since then, MIT Group of Institutions has grown in leaps and bounds making a strong impact across Maharashtra and beyond. With more than 10 campuses in the state covering almost 1,000 acres, MIT Group provides quality education in the fields of Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Insurance, Telecom, Lighting, Design, Food & Technology, Retail, Business Management, Administration and School Education. At any given point of time, more than 50,000 students are pursuing various courses across the 72+ institutes. Two private universities - World Peace University (WPU) and MIT Art Design and Technology (ADT) University - have also been set up in Pune. MIT is also developing private universities in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
MIT Group also understands the importance of quality school education rooted in social conscience. Initially 15 schools were set up in Pune under the state board for urban and rural children, followed by an IB World School in Loni Kalbhor (Pune) and 5 CBSE schools in Loni Kalbhor, Barshi, Pandharpur, Solapur and Chichondi (Nagar district) under Vishwashanti Gurukul Schools umbrella.
Today, MIT Group has the best infrastructure facilities and applies varied teaching methodologies. With over 4,000 highly qualified and dedicated teachers and more than 6,000 non-teaching staff, the Group continues to look for both horizontal and vertical growth patterns. In appreciation of the work carried out under the banner of World Peace Centre in promoting value-based universal education; UNESCO established the Chair for Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance in MIT in 1998. MIT Group is blessed to have eminent scientists, engineers and technologists like Dr. R A Mashelkar and Dr. Vijay Bhatkar among others, as its advisers.
MIT Group believes in developing the overall personality of students in order to create future responsible global citizens, based on its 5 principles of holistic development.
In Samskrit, “Gu” means darkness and "Ru" means the light of knowledge. A Guru takes the student from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge, wisdom and bliss. A Guru is the one who shows the path of enlightenment, not just to his pupils, but to the entire society. Hence, MIT Group is very mindful of its obligation towards the society and puts in a lot of effort to evolve teachers who can take the responsibility of becoming knowledge leaders and value educators. Towards this end, colleges of education under MIT School of Education (SOE) are spread all over Maharashtra with state-of-the-art infrastructure.
With these guiding principles, MIT is traversing the path of imparting education, while playing its humble role in nation-building by responding positively to the changing needs with new initiatives.