Shillong, Sep 5: In a historic day for North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) on Monday the university signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with nine organizations.
These included universities, institutes of research and higher learning and start up industries to strengthen the research activities in NEHU.
The MoU signing ceremony was graced by the Governor of Meghalaya, Satya Pal Malik who is also the Chief Rector of the University.
Malik while presenting his speech praised the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU, Prof. PS Shukla for the work he has done in past one year to raise the status and prestige of NEHU.
He congratulated the Vice-Chancellor in being instrumental in bringing so many collaborations at once to NEHU which is the need for the present times.
Malik further stated that in today’s time research is the key to solving a lot of problems and evolving into one of the self-sufficient nations.
“However, because of lack of collaborations, the growth is not being observed,†the Governor said.
Giving the example of Patna University which was at one time called the Oxford of East, the Governor stated that the quality of research has gone down in Indian institutes and universities which is evident from the fact that only 10 to 12 Nobel Laureates are Indians, half of whom are foreign citizens and a few are Indians but are foreign born like Mother Teresa who received the Nobel for Peace Prize.
The Governor also stressed on the point that the government should work on investing more on education and that any education bill is passed in parliament without any debate which is a shame as education builds the next generation and the nation.
Citing example of Great Britain, the Governor stated that the British government never reduces the budget on education and same should be done in India.
Malik in his concluding remarks wished the teaching fraternity of NEHU a happy teacher’s day and congratulated the Vice-Chancellor and his team on signing MoUs with reputed institutes and industries.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Shukla in his speech stated that the MoUs will provide ample scope for NEHU as well as the participating institutes and industries to collaborate in cutting edge technologies to bring about change in academia and way of doing research.
Shukla exhorted on the point that the MOUs focus on key areas of cooperation like academic, scientific and Academia-Industry-Businesses cooperation between NEHU and these institutions, universities and industries in terms of collaborative programs and other academic exchanges.
The Vice-Chacellor while addressing the audience mentioned the importance of National Education Policy 2020 in collaborating with different organisations for collaborative work.
He also stressed on the point that in order to step up collaboration in innovation, technology and research with other Universities, Institutes and Industries, NEHU have been attracting both nationally and internationally renowned Research & Development institutions and universities to the university which have been evident in the past six months with the visit of foreign delegates and officials to the University campus paving the way for collaborations.