– Mita Mukherjee

Union minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan said university vice-chancellors play a big role in ensuring successful implementation of the reforms recommended in NEP 2020 and he asked university heads to extend their ideas and responsibilities beyond the boundary walls of their campuses to help the country achieve the goal of making India a developed nation by 2047.

“Don’t confine your ideas and responsibilities up to the four boundary walls of your institutions….. Remember you are the leaders of the society… A large group of around 20 crore young people will have to be included in the country’s workforce within 2047… You (vice-chancellors) will have to extend your ideas and responsibilities beyond your campuses for building capacity and competency of the workforce outside the campuses,” the Union minister said, addressing a gathering of university heads at a two-day conference of Central universities on “NEP 2020 in Action Transforming Higher Education”  in Kevadia (Gujarat) on Thursday.

According to Pradhan, universities will also have to play a big role to ensure that more people in the age group of 15 to 59 years can be converted into the country’s workforce which will also contribute in enabling the nation to become a developed nation by 2047.

“According to present data only 27 percent of people in the age group of 15 and 59 years are converted into workforce… The reasons could be socio economic problems, compulsions and lack of opportunities … We will have to ensure that at least 50 percent of the people belonging to this age group get converted into the workforce within 2035…. Vice-chancellors will have to take part in this process…,” Pradhan said.           

He asked the vice-chancellors to prepare a comprehensive plan and strategies on how they can implement the policies envisioned in NEP 2020.

The minister asked vice-chancellors to run their institutions entirely with a “student-centric” approach and deal with difficult situations arising out student-related problems with empathy and care.

“The students are the most important component in the education system, not parents, teachers, or publishers …… It is only our students who are at the centre of all reforms, discussions and policies…..You (vice-chancellors) must develop a student-centric approach to run the universities… Sometimes you may face difficult situations…. Deal such situations carefully, with empathy and in a friendly manner… There will be such problems and you may be surprised with the behavior of students ….Try to build up a rapport with them, solve the crisis sympathetically through discussion… Our students are our national strength ,” the minister told vice-chancellors.   

Quoting prime minister Narendra Modi, the minister said students are inherently strong. Their strength increases to a new level if institutional strength is added to it.

Pradhan said there has been a 30 percent increase in participation of students in higher education after 2014-15. The target is to raise it to 50 percent in 2047.

Also read: Pradhan emphasises need for 50% higher education enrolment ratio by 2035