Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi said that Class 11 and Class 12 education must be delinked from the universities and autonomous colleges for quality research and teaching and for running the universities in accordance with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
“I have already asked the department to discontinue the teaching of Class 11 and Class 12 from this very session from the three autonomous colleges namely North Lakhimpur College in Lakhimpur, Jagannath Barooah College in Jorhat and Nowgong College in Nagaon and the four universities that were upgraded from the colleges,” Mukhi said while addressing a conference of the vice-chancellors of all 17 universities of the state at the governor’s house on July 8.
He also said that as per the NEP 2020, by the year 2035 since no affiliating university or affiliated college will be there and only three types of universities – research universities, teaching universities, and autonomous colleges converted into universities with cluster colleges will remain, they should re-orient their degrees to duly accommodate skilling and vocationalisation into their folds for creating skilled human-resource in the country.
Stressing that the universities should think of implementing dual degree programmes for the benefit of future generations, Mukhi asked the VCs to start brainstorming sessions in their universities to discuss the NEP 2020 and prepare a broad roadmap for implementing the provisions of the National Education Policy in the universities.
The governor also urged upon the VCs to fill up the vacant faculty positions at the universities.
“Since directions have been issued to fill up the vacant posts expeditiously in the colleges and the universities, immediate steps should be undertaken to bring in quality manpower in the educational institutions,” the governor was quoted as saying by a press release.
K Kasturirangan, the main architect who was instrumental in formulating NEP 2020 also joined the conference virtually and interacted with the VCs.
He said that education policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each individual. It is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities – both the ‘foundational capacities ’of literacy and numeracy and ‘higher-order cognitive capacities, such as critical thinking and problem-solving – but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also attended the conference, had meetings with all the VCs and suggested several key points for bringing about a paradigm shift in imparting quality higher education including cutting edge research in the state.
The CM said that Rs 50 crore would be released to the universities for upgrading and creating better infrastructure for higher education.
