Dimapur : Continuing with his strong conviction for skill based training in universities, the Governor of Nagaland PB Acharya on Thursday stated that universities should not only be the centre for academics but also work for the development of the society as well.
The Governor was addressing a meeting with the Vice Chancellors of Guwahati University and Nagaland University; and Principals of various colleges at in Kohima on Thursday, informed a press note from the Raj Bhavan.
He stated that universities should reach out to the people and more skill based courses should be introduced according to the need of the society. The Governor also suggested the universities to indentify social activists, recognize them and confer them with Honoris Causa Degree for their contribution.
The Governor also instructed the Vice-Chancellor of Nagaland University to identify the skill based courses under Swayam and Swayam Prabha programme for Nagaland University which would be beneficial to Nagaland according to the requirement by the society. He further suggested that ‘all 66 colleges under NU may be entrusted to identify the course and intimate the Governor’s office by 15th January 2018’. He also asked the 66 affiliated colleges to identify at least two entrepreneurs especially women for availing Mudra Loan.
The Vice-Chancellor Gauhati University Dr Mridul Hazarika informed the meeting that Guwahati University had taken initiatives particularly in social aspects of North East India. He said that universities play a key role in promoting national and emotional integration through students.
He also opined that universities should recognize people who do exemplary work in the society and said that Gauhati University was the first university in Northeast to recognize social activists with Honoris Causa for their contribution to society.
The Vice Chancellor Nagaland University Prof. Pardeshi Lal, informed that with the introduction of Swayam and Swayam Prabha programmes, a learner can choose more skill based courses. He explained that Swayam was a programme initiated by the government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of the education policy viz., ‘access, equity and quality with an objective to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged”.
He said that Swayam seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have remained untouched by the digital revolution and are not able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.
The vice chancellor further explained that Swayam Prabha was a group of 32 DTH channels for the telecast of high-quality educational programmes on ’24/7 basis’ using the GSAT-15 satellite. It covers diverse disciplines like arts, science, commerce, performing arts, social sciences and humanities, engineering, technology, law, medicine, and agriculture, to name a few.
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