Assam Governor asks Higher Education department to prioritise research activities

Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria has underscored the need for qualitative research in higher education and urged those concerned to prioritise research activities. 

He also asked the Department of Higher Education to focus on plugging infrastructure gaps in the technical institutes in the state, a Raj Bhavan release said. 

Attending a meeting of the Higher Education department on Thursday, Kataria took stock of the ongoing initiatives to enhance enrolment and quality of higher education. He emphasised on the need of 'primary and qualitative research' in the Higher Education department and asked the department to prioritise research activities. 

Kataria also asked the officials of the department to focus on addressing the infrastructure gaps present in the technical institutes across the state. The governor also stressed on meticulous expenditure and monitoring of budget utilisation. He asked the officials to give special attention to the revenue expenditure of the department and instructed them to closely oversee state government projects as well as central-sponsored schemes. 

Stating that the National Education Policy 2020 is a crucial development for the higher education institutes, Kataria asked the officials to pay special attention to its implementation. In a bid to ensure accountability and quality of higher education, he called for regular monitoring of results across all higher educational institutions. He proposed the establishment of monitoring teams tasked with evaluating institutes comprehensively and adherence to quality. 

Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, adviser, Education, Government of Assam, Nani Gopal Mahanta and other senior officials were present at the meet, the release added.