Arunachal Governor convenes maiden Vice Chancellors’ Conference, urges quality education

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt. General K.T. Parnaik (Retd), on October 23 convened and presided over the maiden Vice Chancellors’ Conference of the state at Raj Bhavan, Itanagar. He urged stakeholders to focus on the quality of education and implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Speaking at the occasion, Governor Parnaik said that education is the strongest pillar of Viksit Bharat, and of growth and development, impacting the creation of an educated pool of professionals, including teachers, engineers, doctors & entrepreneurs. 

He added that education has to undergo a transformative reform with time, further underscoring that education is the most potent means for social transformation. "Our universities and colleges have to play the role of change. Higher education is about gaining the knowledge and skills needed to become good leaders, entrepreneurs and job creators," he said.

The Governor said that the New Education Policy enunciated by the government in 2020 has been necessitated to keep pace with developments, and challenges being faced by the nation, the overarching need to imbibe technology, to acquire knowledge to create and seek jobs. 

He urged the stakeholders to focus on implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in universities and colleges in the state.

The Governor stated that the NEP 2020 envisions an education system that fosters an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, ensuring high-quality education for all and emphasises a holistic, flexible, and multidisciplinary approach aligned with the needs of the 21st century. 
He urged Vice Chancellors to create the necessary environment and infrastructure to achieve the goals of NEP 2020 with focus on enhancing the quality of education, improving governance, leveraging technology, and embracing social responsibilities within higher educational institutions. 

State Education Minister P.D. Sona expressed his gratitude to the Governor for convening the first-ever Vice Chancellors Conference in the state. He assured the Governor that corrective measures would be taken and that efforts would be made to implement NEP 2020 in both letter and spirit.

State Education Minister, P.D. Sona; Adviser to Minister Education & HMLA, Mutchu Mithi; State Chief Secretary, Manish Kumar Gupta; Education Commissioner, Amjad Tak; Arunachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (APPEIRC) Chairman, Tsering Naksang; Arunachal Pradesh University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tomo Riba; Rajiv Gandhi University Prof S. K. Naik; Director, NIT, Arunachal Pradesh, Prof. Mohan V Aware; Director NERIST Prof. Narendranath S.; Vice Chancellors of private universities along with officers from education departments and principals of government colleges attended the conference.

Furthermore, Professor Utpal Bhattacharjee, Director IQAC & Chairman, NEP Task Forces, RGU presented a PPT on National Education Policy 2020, while Dr. Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Coordinator, NEP-2020 & Convener, NEP Task Force, RGU presented on ‘Governance’. 

Dr. Upamanyu Das, Deputy Director, Institute of Under Graduate Studies & Member, NEP Task Force, RGU presented a PPT on ‘Curriculum Framework for UG and PG Programme, while Prof. C. Shiv Sankar, Department of Education, RGU gave a presentation on ‘Quality of Education’. 

Prof Tomo Riba, Vice Chancellor, Arunachal Pradesh University, Pasighat gave a PowerPoint presentation on ‘Employability & Social Responsibility at the conference. Prof. S. Chakraborty, Dean Academic, NIT, Arunachal Pradesh presented a PPT on ‘Usage of Technology’.