AIU North Zone Vice Chancellors’ Conference
By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 6 Nov: The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has taken a significant decision to connect education with the needs of industry. This largest global association of universities, which has been associated with universities for a hundred years, will link up with industries for this cause.
This decision was taken at the AIU North Zone Vice Chancellors’ Conference, for bringing a huge change in the higher education system of India.
The two-day conference held at Graphic Era Medical College, focussed on issues related to higher education, with Vice Chancellors of more than 100 universities engaging in serious deliberations. Vice Chancellors gave suggestions like implementing artificial intelligence in various subjects, aligning education with the need of industries, creating models suited best to the country’s environment rather than copying models of foreign universities, organising workshops for teachers to familiarise them with new technologies.
Addressing the valedictory session of the North Zone Vice Chancellors’ Conference, President of Association of Indian Universities and Vice Chancellor of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Dr Vinay Kumar Pathak said that efforts will be done for connecting the association with industry in order to provide better job opportunities to students. Students will be able to gain knowledge and learn technology according to their needs after engaging with industry.
He said that plenty of research papers are written in India, but they don’t lead to many tangible products. Even though India has places like Silicon Valley, more unicorns are incubated in foreign countries like the US. In India, no big products are made from the research papers. Bridging this gap is very important.
Dr Pathak added that most of the students here are not globally employable. They lack in preparation. “For connecting students with global requirements, we have to first understand the problems properly then work on their solutions,” he added. “The country is lacking in ranking; the number of good ranking universities is less. We are unable to replicate high level Universities of the world. Till now the work in being done according to the association’s agenda of 100 years. There is a growing need for adapting to new times.”
Dr Pathak emphasised on the need for changes in thinking and understanding. He urged, both, the association and the university to change according to the current scenario.
Joint Secretary of the Association, Dr Pankaj Kumar Mittal highlighted that AI cannot be one course. It should be integrated into every course. Universities should continuously engage in experiments to connect with new innovations and technologies. Every University should allocate 10% of their budget for technological advancements.
Dr Mittal said that there are several challenges in the education field such as the digital divide, readiness of teachers for learning and teaching new technologies, infrastructure, implementation of blended learning mode in the country and increasing digital literacy in students. The use of AI in the field of education can help in personalised learning for students, intelligent tutoring system and saving teachers’ valuable time. Through artificial intelligence, creative opportunities will be made available to the students in rural areas. Teachers can reach villages via online mode. AI will also help in bridging the language barriers between the teachers and students. He said that there is a need to create more awareness about cyber crime. Teachers and students should also be taught in this regard. The curriculum of universities should be updated continuously.
Vice Chancellor of Graphic Era Deemed University, Dr Narpinder Singh said that this conference was organised to establish relations between the Vice Chancellors of North Zone. This has opened the way for new and bigger cooperation. Very important brainstorming took place over the two days. This would bring good results. It is necessary to connect old models of learning with new technologies.
Delhi Technological University Vice Chancellor Prof Prateek Sharma presided over the session on Cyber Security and Data Privacy in Higher Education Institutions.
Chairman of Graphic Era Group of Institutions Dr Kamal Ghanshala, Pro Chancellor Dr Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Vice Chancellor Dr Narpinder Singh and Nodal Officer of the conference Prof Rupa Khanna Malhotra were felicitated for the excellent arrangements of the event.
AIU Joint Secretary Dr Alok Kumar Mishra proposed the vote of thanks. Former President of AIU, Prof GD Sharma, Joint Secretaries of Association of Indian Universities Ranjana Parihar and Kuldeep Dagar as well as Vice Chancellor of Haryana Central University, Prof Tankeshwar Kumar, Vice Chancellor of Pantnagar University, Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan, Professor at Central University of Himachal Pradesh, SP Bansal, Vice Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Prof Somnath Sachdeva, Prof SK Mehta of University of Ladakh were also present.
More than a hundred Vice Chancellors of North Zone including D. Manpreet Singh Manna of Chandigarh University, Prof Mohammad Mobin of Cluster University of Srinagar, Dr Nidup Dorji of Royal University of Bhutan, Prof Balwinder Shukla of Amity University participated in this conference. It was hosted by Professor MP Singh of Graphic Era Deemed University.
