Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday called for a result-oriented transformation of Jammu and Kashmir’s higher education sector, stressing the need to translate Higher Education Council initiatives into tangible outcomes, ensure effective utilisation of resources and build a comprehensive, holistic and student-centric education system.
Chairing a high-level meeting of J&K Higher Education Council (JKHEC) at Lok Bhavan here, the LG set a six-month deadline for universities in the Union Territory to roll out the “Design Your Degree” program, an official press release informed.
It said the meeting was attended, among others, by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Education Minister Shamim Firdous, Vice Chairman, J&K Higher Education Council, Prof Dinesh Singh; Acting Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Shailendra Kumar and vice chancellors of various universities and heads of IIT, IIM and NIT, Srinagar.
The press release said the Council was convened to chart a forward-looking roadmap for higher education. Discussions focussed on advancing academic excellence, fostering a culture of research and innovation, and strategically aligning institutions to meet future challenges and leverage emerging opportunities.
The key agendas included sharing of academic credit and resources and recasting UG and PG programmes in the light of Design Your Degree and National Education Policy 2020, the release said, adding that the meeting further discussed the modalities to set up a Task Force for integrating AI (Machine Learning, Deep Learning) and Data science into UG and PG programmes.
To drive academic reform, the LG emphasised a spirit of collaboration and urged institutions to share academic credits, research laboratories, and resources.
“Transforming higher education in Jammu Kashmir into a comprehensive, holistic, and visionary system is a shared responsibility. The time has now come to translate Higher Education Council initiatives into tangible achievements, while ensuring that every student benefits from outcome-oriented asset utilisation,” Sinha said.
Stressing the need for stronger intra-university collaboration, he said successful implementation relies on deep-rooted institutional reform and a solid long-term strategy.
The LG emphasised the integration of artificial intelligence and modern technology into learning programmes, stressing the need to pioneer frontier technologies.
He also highlighted that these programmes must incorporate local languages and cultures.
The Council also reviewed the progress of ongoing Higher Education initiatives, Engineering Kitchens and Entrepreneurship programmes, and Budgetary outlay and Reform of the Fund Allocation Mechanism, the press release said.
