GUWAHATI/NONGPOH
Former President of India Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the three-day-long national conference of Vice-Chancellors (VCs) on transformative higher education for Atmanirbhar Bharat at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on March 23.
The national conference is organised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), a 97-year-old premier higher education institution of the country, and hosted by the USTM from March 23 to 25. This mega event will be participated by nearly 600 vice-chancellors from different universities.
The 97th annual general meet and the 97th foundation day lecture of AIU will also take place during the programme.
In the inaugural session of the conference, the special address will be made by Assam education minister Dr Ranoj Pegu. The AIU foundation day lecture will be delivered by Padma Shri Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister, while the welcome address would be delivered by Mahbubul Hoque, chancellor of USTM.
The presidential address will be made by Prof Suranjan Das, president, AIU & vice-chancellor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
There will be an interface between the heads of apex bodies with international delegates where the featured speakers are, Dr Abhay Jere, vice-chairman, AICTE; Dr RC Agrawal, DDG, ICAR, Dr Ponmudiraj, advisor, NAAC, Prof Bhola Thapa, vice-chancellor, Kathmandu University, Nepal; Aditya Malkani regional director, ACU.
Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria will address the valedictory function on the third day of the conference. The guests of honour for the valedictory session are, Atul Kothari, national secretary, Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas; Rakkam A Sangma, education minister, Meghalaya, and Dr Nani Gopal Mahanta, education advisor, Assam government. The convenors of this meeting are Dr Pankaj Mittal, secretary general, Association of Indian Universities, and Prof GD Sharma, vice-president, AIU & vice-chancellor, USTM.
The conference sessions will start in the afternoon of March 23 and will continue till March 25. The themes for sessions of the conference include Internationalization: Modes of Engagement; Minimum Government: Maximum Governance: What Does It Mean for Universities; Promotion of Indian Languages; Reforms for Holistic Education; Creating an Ecosystem for Research & Excellence and Future of Education, Learning, and Workplace.
A host of VCs from universities like JNU, IGNOU, Symbiosis International, University of Massachusetts, Bharti Vidyapith, University of Hyderabad, and Directors of IITs, IISc, AICTE, NAAC, ICAR, ACU, IIIT would be joining this mega conference.
About 300 heads of higher education institutions along with several foreign policy-makers will participate the conference in online mode. One can join the Sessions of the annual meet physically or virtually through the YouTube link.
The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) anticipates a fruitful and meaningful interaction towards the resolution and realization of a common agenda for academic excellence.