The A P J Abdul Kalam Study Centre at IIM-Shillong, which is supported by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), will help in the implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) in the Northeast, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday.
Singh said this after a meeting with the management of IIM-Shillong represented by its Chairman Shishir Bajoria, member Board of Governors Atul Chandrakant Kulkari and others.
Hailing the NEP, brought by the Union Education Ministry with the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the biggest path-breaking reform in India since independence, Singh said, the new policy is not only progressive and visionary but is also in keeping with the emerging needs of 21st century India.
The A P J Abdul Kalam Study Centre at IIM-Shillong will help implement the NEP in the Northeast and it may also undertake a study to understand how best this can be done, he said.
The minister said the centre also gives the young scholars and students enough room to decide their options depending upon their aptitude and their personal circumstances from time to time
Singh said the entire Northeastern region is faced with the challenge of mass exodus of students to different parts of the country in pursuit of higher education in streams of their preference.
He said, it is therefore, for the educationists in the Northeast to work out a comprehensive and effective plan to make use of the best practices incorporated in the NEP for the benefit of the students in the Northeast by overcoming the peculiar constraints of the region.
The minister said the centre may also undertake a study to understand how the different streams and subjects available in the central institutions be introduced in the Northeast so that the students of the region can take the benefits of chosen subjects.
The centre can also suggest ways and means to involve the state run colleges and institutions in carrying out the academic programmes initiated by the central government.
It can also play the role of resource centre as well as coordinator between the central and state governments on the one hand and among the various education institutions of the region on the other hand, in order to ensure that the benefits of the NEP percolate down to the last student.
Source: Hindustan Times, 29/01/21
