Pradhan during his address in the two-day national conference for Vice Chancellors of Central Universities insisted for nurturing students as future entrepreneurs
Source: PIB Delhi
A two-day Conference of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities and Directors of Institutions of National Importance concluded today. The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the conference on 7th June, 2022.
The Conference was attended by Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan; Minister of State for Education Shri Subhas Sarkar; Advisor to the Prime Minister, Shri Amit Khare; Secretary, Higher Education Shri Sanjay Murthy: Chairman UGC, Chairman AICTE, Chairperson, NCVET, Heads of Central Universities/Institutes of Higher Learning and senior officials from the Ministry of Education and the President Secretariat.
In his concluding remarks, Shri Pradhan expressed gratitude to the President of India for his participation and guidance in the Visitor’s Conference. He said that the age of incremental change is gone and called upon higher educational institutes to target exponential growth towards building future-ready workforce. Speaking about the challenges and opportunities in the new world propelled by technology, he said that Indian has shown its technological prowess in various initiatives like UPI, Direct Benefit Transfer, Aadhar and we must build upon this strength and make a future-ready workforce to embrace the changes arising out of Industrial Revolution 4.0. Speaking about entrepreneurship, he mentioned the rising number of unicorns in the country as an indicator of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and called for preparing the students to be job givers and not only job seekers. The Minister also spoke about various initiatives taken by the Government in the realm of digital education and called for leveraging technology to further decolonize education. He also called for further strengthening alumni network and engage efforts being taken in internationalization of education in India, including the Study in India program.
In different sessions, the Conference deliberated on various topics such as – International rankings of Higher Education Institutions; collaboration between Academia-Industry and policymakers; Integrating School, Higher and Vocational education; Education and Research in emerging and disruptive technologies.
On the second day of the conference, Mr. Nunzio Quacquarelli, Founder and CEO, QS ranking gave a presentation on International rankings of Higher Education Institutions: Indian Universities in QS World University Rankings. It included suggestions on how Indian institutions can improve their performance and attain better world rankings. The moderation by Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur was very evident and articulated comprehensively on how our institutions have been working towards the path of progress. He said that India has improved its performance in the Global rankings at an overall level.
The other presentations were made by Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur, Shri Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University, and Shri V. Kamakothi, Director IIT Madras, and moderated respectively by Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Standing Committee of IIT Council, Dr. N. S. Kalsi, Chairman, National Council for Vocational Education and Training(NCVET) and Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE).
Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari in his presentation on the topic of Collaboration between Academia-Industry and Policy Makers gave an insight into the idea when academia, industry, and policymakers work together, universities can become powerful engines for knowledge, employment, and innovation. The presentation was moderated by Shri K.Radhakrishnan.
In the other session, while presenting the topic Integrating School, Higher & Vocational Education, Prof. Yogesh Singh mentioned several steps taken by the University of Delhi like formulating UGCF 2022 to provide holistic education from 2022-23 onwards, implementing NEP, etc. Shri N.S.Kalsi, Chairman, NCVET moderated the session.
In the last session, Shri V. Kamakothi in his presentation on the topic of Education and Research In Emerging and Disruptive Technologies discussed the potential and need for Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Simulation and Modeling, Secure Systems, and Intelligent Manufacturing. The presentation was moderated by Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE.
The President of India, Ramnath Kovind also joined the conference, wherein he said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate a progressive independent India, culturally rich heritage, and achievements of India, which is also an ode to the freedom fighters. He lauded the various presentations made during the conference on different issues and themes concerning higher education and outlining various initiatives taken in the space. The National Education Policy 2020 places huge importance on the industry-academia collaboration to drive innovation and research in our educational institutions, he further added. The Minister also thanked the donors and expressed confidence that all institutions will continue to work hard towards establishing institutions as benchmarks for others to follow.
Delhi CM and British High Commissioner discusses inking pact on Education, Healthcare
Identifying education, healthcare, water supply and roadworks as its focus area, the Delhi Government led by CM Arvind Kejriwal broached for signing pact.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and British High Commissioner Alex Ellis recently discussed the possibility of signing a knowledge-sharing agreement on education and health, an official statement said on Wednesday. Underlining that the Delhi government has identified education, healthcare, water supply and roadworks as its priority sectors, Kejriwal told the British delegation that his government had been spending 25 percent of its annual budget on education and that Rs 85,000 crore had already been invested in this sector in the last seven years.
The meeting was held on topic including collaboration on green buildings, solar policy, waste management, road designing and electric buses. According to the CM, Delhi government is working upon enhancing Delhi’s water supply mechanism, reducing air pollution, and making transport more accessible and sustainable. “The citizens of Delhi will be given e-health cards. The doctor will have access to patients’ complete medical history through these cards,” Kejriwal said.
“British High Commissioner to India H.E. Shri Alex Ellis called upon Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat today. Both Delhi and Britain will work together in the fields of education, health and infrastructure for the betterment of their citizens,” the Chief Minister’s Office tweeted.
slowly and gradually, we are gaining their trust. We’ve done a fantastic job in education and healthcare, and it’s being talked about across the country and worldwide,” he added.
