Dharmendra Pradhan Visits M'laya, Attends XXVII Convocation at NEHU

Union Minister for Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan attended the XXVII Convocation of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya as the chief guest and conferred degrees to the passing out students for 2020 and 2021 at a ceremony held in the Shillong campus on Saturday.

Pradhan congratulated all the passing out students and extended his best wishes for their bright future ahead. He urged them to bring in the change in the society by participating in the knowledge-based revolution to become job providers.

Pradhan said, “Our universities are melting pot of ideas, innovation and aspirations and universities should be a breeding ground for research.”

The minister highlighted that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is a transformative pathway for all of us in creating global citizens. The NEP focuses on universalisation of early childhood care and education and also on learning in all Indian languages. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reiterating the importance of all Indian languages.

Pradhan also complimented Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for giving special focus on early childhood care and education in the state of Meghalaya in line with the NEP 2020.

Pradhan said that as we celebrate the Amrit Mahotsav, our youth should also shift their focus from rights to responsibilities. Walking on the path of duties, we have to take our country to new heights in the next decade, he added. He encouraged to create a strong alumni network.

A total of 15,955 degrees were awarded during the convocation out of which 117 were PhD, 8 were M.Phil, 1559 were PG degrees and 14,271 were Bachelor’s degree. Meghalaya Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, Vice-Chancellor NEHU Professor P. S. Shukla, faculty and students of NEHU gathered at the event.

Meanwhile, Dharmendra Pradhan held a review meeting of education, skill development and entrepreneurship where senior officers of the central government. The minister was happy to learn that Meghalaya is implementing the NEP in letter and spirit across spheres.

He said that a progressive state like Meghalaya must also lead efforts for establishing the national digital infrastructure, especially student registration portal as a part of the NDEAR and also bring its institutions under the NIRF and NAAC framework. He also suggested that NEHU should act as a knowledge partner for institutions across the state, especially in imparting skill development in frontier areas.

Later in the day, Pradhan visited Umsning Presbyterian School in Ri Bhoi district. He said that ambitions and aspirations of future leaders from this school will reaffirm the faith that India is going to become a knowledge society.

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