A two-week interdisciplinary refresher course in Information Technology started at the University of Kashmir .
The online refresher course for college and university teachers has been organised by the varsity’s UGC-HRDC.
Vice-Chancellor Central University of Kashmir Prof Mehraj-ud-Din Mir was the chief guest at the inaugural session, where KU Registrar Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir was a guest of honour.
In his presidential address, Prof Mehraj-ud-Din urged the participants to acquire sufficient digital literacy and competence that is necessary in the present global digital revolution and also learn about the interventions made by Information Technology in the teaching-learning process.
In his special address, Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir underscored the need for enhancing IT skills of both teaching and non-teaching staff in higher educational institutions. He applauded the efforts of the UGC-HRDC team in conducting several refresher courses in online mode after the outbreak of Covid-19.
He urged the HRDC to conduct capacity-building courses for non-teaching staff and academic administrators to hone their administrative and managerial skills.
In his welcome address, Director UGC-HRDC Prof Mushtaq Ahmad Darzi highlighted the role of HRDC in training more than 8,000 teachers in the past 33 years of its establishment. Coordinator HRDC Dr Geer M Ishaq said the present refresher course is aimed at familiarising the participants with the latest trends and recent advances in Information Technology. Refresher Course Coordinator Dr Javaid Iqbal, faculty at KU’s Department of Computer Sciences, gave an overview of eminent resource persons from all across the country who have been invited to deliver lectures in the online mode in next two weeks. The lead lecture was delivered by Prof Dharmendra Kushwaha on Bitcoin and block chain technology.