Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Tuesday chaired a meeting to discuss introduction of new concepts in Higher Education sector for improving quality of education so as to make students competitive at the cutting edge level.
The new concepts include introduction of Student ExchangePolicy, setting up of career counselling centres and innovation cells in thevarious government degree colleges in the State.
Secretary, Higher Education, Talat Pervez Rohella, Director,Colleges, Yasin Khan and senior Principals of Government Degree Collegesattended the meeting.
Advocating greater collaboration between degree collegeswithin and outside the State, Ganai advised the Higher Education Department toimprove the draft Student Exchange Policy. He asked the Department to identifythe colleges and universities from outside which are interested in partneringthe State Colleges in student exchange programmes. “The Department should getdown to the nitty gritty before finalizing the MoUs with sister institutions,”he added.
Laying emphasis on linking academics with market-orientedjobs, the Advisor urged the Department to gain from the rich experience ofsenior Principals and faculty members in proper career counselling of students.He advised the Secretary to revisit the career counselling proposal so that it meetsthe modern day requirements.
Asking the Principals to encourage students in their trystwith new ideas, the Advisor asked the Higher Education Department to expeditethe proposal for setting up of innovative cells in leading degree colleges inthe State.
The Secretary Higher Education informed the Advisor that theDepartment is examining several proposals for harnessing innovative skills ofstudents including the NIDHI guidelines that nurture new ideas and inspiresuccessful start-ups in science and technology sector.