Speaking at the valedictory ceremony today Tripura Minister for Higher Education, Panchayats and General Administration, Kishor Barman, called for effective implementation of NEP 2020 to make education more skill-oriented and future-ready in the Northeast.
Mr Barman said over Rs 21,000 crore has been invested in the education sector in the Northeast over the past decade, along with the establishment of around 850 schools, nine medical colleges, two IIITs and nearly 200 skill development institutions.
He stressed the need to strengthen internships, apprenticeships, skill-based courses, entrepreneurship and career counselling, and called for greater regional collaboration in research and student mobility.
Mr Barman also urged the Northeast to transform brain drain into brain circulation.
Additional Secretary, Department of Education, Ministry of Education, Anandrao V. Patel, stressed the need to make education more multidisciplinary and skill-oriented, and to strengthen its links with industry.
Mr Patel highlighted the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme, saying industries can provide apprenticeship and employment opportunities to students from the Northeast.
He said companies are already recruiting students from the region, including through apprenticeship programmes, and urged the states to further strengthen industry-academia linkages.
Mr Patel also called for reducing dropouts and achieving a 50 percent Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education by 2035, stressing the greater use of digital education and technology.
The conclave proposed key outcomes and resolutions, including infrastructure upgrades through the establishment of Skill Hubs in parent institutions, vertical mobility and academic progression, promotion of the North-East Knowledge System and Indigenous Knowledge institutions; establishment of State Public Universities, annual education review meetings and conclaves, and a special financial package for NEP 2020 implementation.
The conclave also proposed that a dedicated Prime Minister's Special Financial Package for the North-Eastern States may be considered to support the effective implementation of NEP 2020 in the region.
