Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, has declared that his government will establish a state research foundation, similar to the National Research Foundation envisioned in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed research foundation is planned to promote innovative research with quantifiable consequences for transformational reforms in the education sector, the chief minister said during a conference on NEP 2020 implementation in Assam as a follow-up to the Varanasi Conclave.
According to the official release, the conference was organised by the Governor’s Secretariat in collaboration with the state government’s Higher Education Department.
“We are committed to implement NEP 2020 for qualitative improvement of education. The fact that we have earmarked six per cent of the state’s GDP for education speaks volumes of our intent to develop our human resources… “, Sarma stated.
He went on to say that, as part of the NEP 2020, the government will take steps to allow higher education institutions to focus on experiential learning, integrating cross-curricular pedagogy, and holistic education with a focus on the Indian knowledge system.
Furthermore, Sarma stated that his government is in the midst of developing a holistic governance structure to include academic matters, including accountability, research, and digitization. The chief minister further stated that his administration has decided to create four nano-incubation centres in Bongaigaon, Silchar, Dibrugarh, and Tezpur to foster the entrepreneurial spirit. Faculty members will be trained in capacity building so that they can aid students ‘not just as teachers, but also as mentors and guides’, according to the statement.
According to the statement, the higher education department will collaborate with other related departments to develop skill and training modules to up-skill the potential workforce for industry in accordance with market requirements in order to assist students with the start-up ecosystem and entrepreneurial ventures.