Govt creating conducive environment for learning, innovation: Lt Governor

Srinagar, Sep 11: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Saturday released ‘Analysis of Accreditation Reports of Union Territories-Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh’ by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) at SKICC.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor termed the Assessment and Accreditation process as an important factor to maintain the quality of education in Universities and Colleges.
He said that the publication will work as an intelligent assistant for our Academicians, Vice-Chancellors, Professors and students.
Highlighting the need to introduce new reforms to meet the requirements of the rapidly transforming education system and the changing market dynamics, the Lt Governor said that the University and Colleges have immense power and a small shift in curriculum can have a decisive impact on the socio-economic environment.
“The future belongs to those students and teachers who can realize their full potential and adapt to rapidly changing requirements”, observed the Lt Governor.
As we are heading towards an era which will be dominated by the knowledge economy, our biggest asset would be the Human Capital, a combination of talent, skill, and creativity.
We are making efforts to continuously improve the courses in Universities and Colleges, incorporating students’ feedback to create a conducive environment for learning and innovation, the Lt Governor said.
Our aim is to empower every student with technical and social skills to develop entrepreneurial thinking. The UT Government is consistently reforming the educational system with new tools to produce required skill sets, observed the Lt Governor.
Also, critical thinking and life-long learning process through offline and online mode is being promoted so that our youth can contribute in making Jammu Kashmir Aatma-Nirbhar, he added.
Pointing out some of the important observations made in the analysis, the Lt Governor stressed on the need to improve the student-feedback mechanism and put in place a systemized and scientifically analyzed system.
This feedback system needs to be implemented as a constructive, public participation and contribution to society in order to inculcate a mix of skills and values in the student, he added.
The Lt Governor emphasized to lay special focus on various aspects of the modern education system including introduction of interdisciplinary & Short-Term courses; promoting Student-Diversity, research & innovation, student mentoring, besides strengthening Academia-Industry connect and continuously upgrading of skill sets to develop youth into a multi-skilled human capital.
The Lt Governor also advised for accreditation and re-accreditation of Universities and Colleges. The criteria including curriculum as per today’s standard, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, infrastructure and learning resources, student support, governance, leadership and management, innovative and best practices are essential for the higher educational institutions to do an in-depth analysis and know about their strengths & weaknesses, and make further improvements, he added.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor congratulated the authorities, faculty members, and students of University of Kashmir and University of Jammu for securing A+ grade.
He called for doubling the efforts on part of the Universities across J&K to improve their standings in NIRF and other such ranking frameworks.
Prof. Mehraj-ud-Din Mir, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir delivered the welcome address and highlighted the measures taken by the university for implementation of National Education Policy.
Prof. S.C Sharma, Director NAAC shared his views on the occasion through a video message.
Meanwhile, Prof. Amiya Kumar Rath, Advisor NAAC, and Dr. S. Srikanata Swamy, Academic Expert spoke on J&K specific recommendations and observations made in the analysis report. Dr. Wahidul Hasan, Senior Communication & Publication officer, NAAC delivered the Vote of Thanks.
Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; Vice Chancellors of various Universities; senior government officials; HoDs and Deans from Universities and colleges were present on the occasion.