By The Editor
Human beings are dynamic creatures who are constantly active in finding ways and means for better living conditions and cannot afford to remain idle or static. All through history people began to develop system of education for imparting knowledge and motivating young minds to achieve greater goals. Education is very crucial for economic progress and development of human civilisation. The Chinese philosopher, Kwan Tzu, said: “If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed; if you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree; if you are thinking years ahead, educate the people”. Formulation of New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was started in 2015 and it was introduced to equip students with skills to cope with challenges of the 21st century. Due to Covid-19 pandemic during two years 2020-2021 progress was halted but soon after educational institutions started initiating seminars, workshops, etc. to highlight importance of NEP.
The three-day long National Conference of Vice-Chancellors on ‘Transformative Higher Education for Atmanirbhar Bharat’ was organised by the Association of Indian University (AIU) in collaboration with the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) from March 23 to 25 at USTM campus, Ri Bhoi district, Meghalaya. The conference was attended by more than 500 vice-chancellors and directors of IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), IISc (Indian Institute of Science) and other higher educational institutions from India and abroad. Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria was the chief guest at the valedictory session on March 25 who congratulated USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque for establishing and nurturing an unparalleled university, a true people’s university. guests of honour for valedictory session were Atul Kathari, national secretary, Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas; Rakkam A. Sangma, Education minister, Meghalaya, and Dr. Nani Gopal Mahanta, education advisor, Assam government. Earlier, the welcome address was given by Prof. G. D. Sharma, vice-president of AIU and vice-chancellor, USTM. Others who participated and contributed valuable suggestions were Pankaj Mittal, secretary general, AIU; Dr. S. Rama Devi Pani, editor of University News, AIU; Prof. Suranjan Das, president, AIU and Vice-Chancellor (VC) Jadavpur University, Kolkata; Atul Kathari and Dr. Nani Gopal Mahanta. Rakkam A Sangma addressed the participants as special guest of honour.
Notably, USTM was declared “Centre of Excellence” by the Resource Centre for United Nations – North East Region (NER) which will enable USTM to become centre of United Nations (UN) activities. Relevant letter was handed to USTM director of Resource Centre for UN-NER in presence of vice-chancellor Prof. G. D. Sharma and other officers. USTM will have UN Reading Library and it will be eligible to organise UN and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization) seminars and conference at the university. USTM will participate in UN or UNESCO conferences at the state, national and international level, apart from visits of UN or UNESCO officials to the university. Accepting declaration letter Mahbubul Hogue said that mission of USTM is to become world-class university.