Bhubaneswar, Jan 15 (IANS) Odisha Governor and Chancellor S.C. Jamir on Monday called for a sustained focus on quality, relevance and excellence in universities to meet global standards of excellence in academics and research.

Addressing the inaugural session of Conference of Vice-Chancellors in Raj Bhavan, Jamir said the need of the hour is to nurture inter-disciplinary education, engage in cutting edge research and foster creativity and innovation.

He asked universities to make every effort for both students and teachers to acquire multi-tasking skills in order to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world problems.

“21st century bestows upon the universities a great responsibility to provide to the nation inspired and ignited minds of graduates and post graduates and scholars of eminence to fuel unprecedented growth and development and advance the frontiers of knowledge and shrink the boundaries of ignorance.

“They must strive to nurture creativity and innovativeness in abundance to manifest the fullest human potential.” he said.

Terming universities as the repositories of wisdom of enlightened and inspired minds, Jamir urged upon making higher education a foundation to a developed, prosperous and enlightened human society.

The Governor also asked the universities to make best efforts to adhere to faculty-student ratio and stay focused on faculty development through training and orientation for augmenting capabilities.

He asked universities to create an environment for performing better in teaching, research and outreach and explored means of larger collaboration with industries.

On changing needs and aspirations of stakeholders of higher education system, Jamir said the existing system of governance needs to cater to the large scale requirements.

Citing effective governance as one of the performance radars of universities, he exhorted upon vice-chancellors to have a leadership of moral stature, honesty and integrity for having transparency and accountability in universities.

“They must be a great force in the resolve of making a New India,” he added.

Jamir reiterated integration of human values with education and said the need is to echo discipline, character, peace and harmony in the corridors of universities and promote the value and worth of responsible citizenship in classrooms and campus.

Higher Education Minister Anant Das, Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy, and Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda also participated in the discussion.

–IANS
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