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Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today called on universities to become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges such as climate change, poverty and pollution. He also wanted universities to discuss various socio-economic and political issues facing the world and come up with ideas that could be implemented by governments according to their needs and relevance.
Virtually addressing the inaugural session of the World University Summit hosted by OP Jindal University, Sonipat, the vice president said universities should produce good academics, economists and politicians who have good conduct, ability, character. and caliber.
Referring to the Summit theme, “Universities of the future: strengthening institutional resilience, social responsibility and community impact,†Shri Naidu called for the promotion of multidisciplinary approaches and stressed the need for a collaborative academic effort to create sustainable and scalable solutions to the challenges around us. He believed that sustainable development was the answer to many challenges facing the world today and that universities can play a major role to this end. “Universities must integrate sustainability as an underlying mission in all the activities they carry out in various fields,†he said.
Stating that virtual education cannot substitute for conventional learning in the classroom, the vice president stressed the need to develop a hybrid education model for the future by combining the best elements of offline education. and online. He said such a model should be both interactive and engaging for the learner as well as the teacher to ensure optimal learning outcomes. He stressed that education is not just the delivery of content; rather, it should prepare students to learn independently and creatively. “Through proactive critical thinking, learners should become leaders in their chosen fields, so that they eventually become engines of social change,†he added.
Shri Naidu acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced faster innovation in the discipline of education, which can help us build a more equitable teaching and learning system. However, he also expressed the need to constantly improve and upgrade the online university ecosystem. Calling for increased use of artificial intelligence in education, the vice president said it could greatly enrich the teaching-learning experience and could also provide personalized education for every child. In addition to this, Shri Naidu wanted online educational tools to be used in vocational training and adult education to improve the skills and employability of our huge population of young people.
At the same time, the vice president observed that experts warned about the risk of myopia in children who spend long hours on digital devices and stay indoors. In this context, he suggested that students spend half of their time in class and the rest in the playground or with nature.
The Vice President said that the current pandemic has made us realize that no political regime in the world is fully prepared for the unknown threats of the future. Referring to the saying that “no one is safe until everyone is safe,†he said global crisis management requires a multi-pronged, multicultural collective approach that ensures cooperation from all.
Appreciating the role of universities in research on Covid-19 vaccination and related fields, Shri Naidu said humanity owes a great deal to the thousands of faculty, researchers and students who have spent countless days and nights working in silence to bring out useful research for the benefit of the world.
Calling for the internationalization of study programs, he wanted increased collaboration on research, common classes and student projects with the active participation of industry. He also wanted Indian universities to make the world aware of the richness of ancient Indian knowledge systems that seek to promote sustainable production and consumption patterns.
The vice president called education very critical to lay a solid foundation for any nation to ensure its economic and social prosperity. He congratulated OP Jindal Global University for being ranked among the top 700 universities in the world and the first private university in India in the QS World University Rankings 2021. Emphasizing the importance of higher education, he said that Beyond their primary teaching and learning role, higher education educational institutions are also centers of knowledge and rich intellectual capital which, through their impact-oriented research, contribute in ways significant to the nation-building cause.
Referring to the complexity and diversity of India’s large population, the Vice President called for equity in access to education and called for a balance between the quantity and quality of education to reap the benefits. benefits of our huge demographic dividend. “With our rich history of Vedas and Upanishads, we must strive to become a world capital of knowledge or Vishwa Guru again,†he added.
In this context, Shri Naidu suggested that public-private partnership is the way forward as governments alone cannot do everything. Appreciating JGU Founding Chancellor Shri Naveen Jindal for his efforts, he urged philanthropists and industry to contribute to the cause of education by joining the education sector and improving facilities.
The Vice President congratulated Prof (Dr.) C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University, for bringing together more than 150 thought leaders from over 25 countries who will deliberate to spur innovation in Higher Education. He expressed optimism that the three-day summit will lead to transformative ideas for innovation and reimagining the future of Indian and global higher education.
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, Prof. (Dr.) DP Singh, President, University Grants Commission (UGC), Shri Naveen Jindal, Founding Chancellor, OP Jindal Global University, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor and Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, OP Jindal Global University were among the dignitaries who attended the virtual event.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on July 21, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. IST. For more information and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle , connect to our website Latestly.com).
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