UGC-HRDC, KU organizes special session on status of Higher Education in J&K | KNO

Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

Srinagar, July 26 (KNO) : UGC-HRDC, University of Kashmir (KU) organized a special session on the status of higher education in J&K. Director Colleges, Department of Higher Education, J&K Govt., Prof. Yaseen Ahmad Shah as per a statement issued to KNO deliberated at length upon the initiatives being taken by the govt. to ensure vibrant academic atmosphere in all the colleges. He urged upon newly appointed college and university teachers attending 83rd General Orientation Course being organized by UGC-HRDC, KU at present to lend supremacy to professional ethics in every sphere of their life and profession, to achieve excellence and contentment through high ethical standards and moral values. He dwelled upon the prevailing status and future prospects of the college sector in J&K state. Prof. Shah opined that while more and more students are gaining access to higher education, there is a need to provide them with quality education along with the skills to enable them to compete and succeed in the competitive environment. He also emphasized upon the dissemination of information regarding various schemes so that students will be benefitted by these initiatives, and said that in this entire process the role of a teacher is very crucial. While welcoming the speakers, Prof. Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Director, HRDC stated that everyone has the right to education and it should be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. He emphasized upon the need on strengthening the existing institutions, talking all possible steps for improvement in the entire education system, and developing strategies for enhancing quality, making education relevant to emerging needs and fostering long term institutional excellence. “For this we need to take several steps such as creation of faculty, redesigning curriculum, developing teaching learning methodology to facilitate effective delivery, building industry academia interface and linkages, attracting faculty from other institutions and industry, integrate information technology into our system, develop incubation centres to provide platform for innovation and creativity, focus on cutting edge research and placement, and advance knowledge in a wide variety of fields,” said Prof Shabir Bhat. On this occasion Prof. Irshad Ahmad Wani, former Director, North Campus KU also interacted with the participants of the course and said that that the higher education has experienced significant growth over the last two decades and never before in our history, it has received more prominent attention than in the last decade due to rapidly changing economic environment and unprecedented developments in the field of technology. Proceedings of the session were conducted by Coordinator, HRDC and Course Coordinator, Dr. Mohammad Ishaq Geer who also proposed vote of thanks on the occasion.(KNO)