President Ram Nath Kovind on February 26 said that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, contains specific focus on digital education with the help of technology.
“With a view to making higher education more accessible, the central government has decided to establish a digital university to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education with personalized learning experience at the doorsteps of students. The digital university will provide education in different Indian languages and ICT formats,” President Kovind said while addressing the 19th convocation of the Tezpur University at Tezpur in Assam.
He said that Tezpur University can become an active stakeholder in this initiative, specially by providing high quality digital content in Assamese and other languages of the Northeast.
While addressing the convocation, the president said that the Tezpur University community should provide innovative solutions to local and national problems.
He said that the students and faculty members of Tezpur University should try to make it a major centre of innovation.
Kovind urged them to encourage community participation and use local resources for finding solutions to local and national problems. He was happy to note about innovative solutions provided by Tezpur University for making safe drinking water reach many villages in Assam.
He said that the scope of the university’s engagement with villages should be further expanded. It can adopt some villages for helping in their overall development under universities’ social responsibility.
The president said that Assam is gifted with extraordinary beauty of nature and rich bio-diversity. This has to be preserved. Every resident of Assam, especially the youth have to be very active on the fronts of conservation and sustainable development. He was happy to note about the renewable energy initiatives of the Tezpur University, especially in the villages. President Kovind said that the young population has greater stakes in keeping the planet green and they have to demonstrate greater awareness through their action.
President Kovind said that Assam has done a commendable job in conserving biodiversity. Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, as also the elephant reserve are impressive examples of conservation. He said that conservation must be the watch word for every citizen, especially the student community.
Noting that the Northeast states give high priority to organic farming, the president said that the Tezpur University can play a major role in branding and marketing of agricultural produce of this region.
Referring the unique Joha rice of Assam which is known for its excellent taste and aroma, he said that universities of Assam can help the farmers by branding, popularising and marketing this unique variety of rice. There are many such agricultural products that can be promoted.
