Srinagar: The Executive Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir Higher Education Council (JKHEC) on Thursday reviewed key initiatives aimed at strengthening higher education in the Union Territory, including implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, the Design Your Degree (DYD) programme, integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The meeting, held at the University of Kashmir, was chaired by JKHEC Vice-Chairman Prof. Dinesh Singh and attended by vice-chancellors, senior academicians, policymakers and officials from higher educational institutions across Jammu and Kashmir.
According to an official statement, the committee reviewed the progress on decisions taken during previous meetings and deliberated on strengthening the implementation of the Design Your Degree initiative, promoting undergraduate research, entrepreneurship and innovation-led education.
Addressing the meeting, Prof. Singh stressed the need for innovation-driven, interdisciplinary and learner-centric approaches in line with the objectives of NEP-2020. He highlighted the importance of creativity, experiential learning and problem-solving in higher education and called for wider adoption of the Design Your Degree programme to enable students to pursue multidisciplinary learning pathways.
He also emphasised the need to integrate Artificial Intelligence into teaching, learning and research to help higher educational institutions adapt to emerging global developments.
University of Kashmir Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nilofer Khan said the university remained committed to advancing academic excellence, research and student-centric reforms in line with the objectives of NEP-2020. She said the Higher Education Council had emerged as an important platform for collaboration among universities, colleges and government institutions.
During the meeting, Prof. Shobha Bagai, Director of the Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi, shared insights on multidisciplinary education, experiential learning and innovation ecosystems, highlighting the importance of promoting research aptitude and entrepreneurial thinking among students.
The committee also discussed initiatives related to entrepreneurship and innovation, proposed programmes under the Higher Education Council framework, budgetary provisions and other academic matters, the statement said.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Ram Niwas Sharma; Vice-Chancellors of the University of Jammu, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Cluster University Srinagar and Cluster University of Jammu, besides other senior officials and academicians. Vice-Chancellors of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and SKUAST-Jammu participated virtually.
