Chandigarh, March 11: Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that education is the main factor in the progress of the country and the nation will become self-reliant with inclusive education. The Chief Minister was addressing a meeting organized under the chairmanship of Governor, Sh. Bandaru Dattatraya with vice-chancellors and registrars of private universities of the state at Raj Bhavan here today.
Higher Education Minister, Sh. Mool Chand Sharma, Chairman, Haryana State Higher Education Council, Prof. BK Kuthiala, Advisor, Higher Education, Sh. Brij Kishore, vice-chairman, Higher Education, Dr. KC Sharma, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Sh. Bharat Bhushan Bharti were also present in the meeting.
New Education Policy imbibes values of life
The Chief Minister thanked the Governor for convening a two-day meeting organized to review the works of the Higher Education Department. He said that private universities have an important role in implementing the new education policy. “In the new education policy, education related to life values has been included so that the collective development of the person is ensured and he becomes self-reliant,” he added.
Citing the example of Swami Vivekananda, he said that education is not just a stack of knowledge but a medium to imbibe the values of life and without it, education is incomplete.
The Chief Minister said that due to Lord Macaulay's education, we could not get real life useful learning. “Life values have been given priority in the new National Education Policy, so that we can achieve our objectives by imbibing it. The purpose of government and private universities is the same in terms of education. They should adopt the best practices not only of each other but also of universities across the world,” he added.
Universities should become self-reliant in field of resources
Sh. Manohar Lal said that the government and private universities should be self-reliant in the field of resources and for this the alumni can make a huge contribution. He said that for this, all the universities can organize Alumni-Day, once in a year and invite their alumni who have settled abroad. “Apart from Alumni funds, assistance can also be taken from CSR Funds for self-reliance,” he added.
He further said that the manpower of the college students should also be utilized in various types of surveys. “With this, the universities will get revenue, while there will be intellectual development of the students. The universities can also generate financial resources by giving their skilled consultancy to various government departments,” he said, adding that Manav Rachna University and Ashoka University are working in this regard. He said that the universities should keep updating about the latest techniques and knowledge in the field of research.
Skill education necessary for employment
The Chief Minister said that it is necessary to impart skill education to the youth to eliminate unemployment. “With more expansion of technical education, the youth will become more self-reliant and they will also get employment easily. Skill development has been given prominence in the new education policy,” he said.
Addressing the meeting, Higher Education Minister, Sh. Mool Chand Sharma said that the state government has set a target to increase the gross enrolment ratio in higher education from 32 percent to 40 percent by 2030. He said that a campaign is being launched to trace the zero dropout of children in the age group of 6 to 18 years. Along with providing education to the children, the educational institutions should make them aware about the side effects of social evils, he added.
On the occasion, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal, Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Sh. Vijayendra Kumar, Secretary to Governor, Sh. Atul Dwivedi, Director, Higher Education Department, Sh. Rajiv Rattan, along with vice-chancellors and registrars of private universities were also present.