[Assam] CM stresses technical education in State (The Assam Tribune, 15.06.2009)

[Buljit Buragohain]

CM stresses technical education in State
 Staff Reporter

 GUWAHATI, June 14 – Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today emphasized that
education, and technical education in particular, should have a larger
role in achieving social goals than ever before. In the larger
intellectual landscape, it should contribute to the growth of creative
and innovative ideas which ultimately results in social good, he noted.

Speaking
at the inaugural function of the NETES Institute of Technology and
Science, Mirza, he said that he was keen to spread technical education
in the State which included means such as private-public partnership. 

Referring
to the perennial problems of the State, he said that erosion more than
floods was emerging as a challenge that was a matter of concern as a
large number of people were displaced, of whom 90,000 were taking
refuge on embankments. He hoped that good science and technology
issuing forth from technical institutions would be able to redress the
perennial problems of Assam.

He said that science and technology
education in the region should be germane to local needs and
aspirations, and there was a need to promote grassroots innovation for
the benefit of common people. 

Alluding to an interaction with
Vijay Kelakar of the 12th Finance Commission, Gogoi revealed Kelkar
telling him that people in Assam were known for their creative ideas,
and they were in the forefront of innovative ideas. 

He hoped
that NIST Mirza, would be able to achieve new goals in discovery and
innovation and contribute towards the welfare of the region. 

Speaking
on the occasion, noted academic Nirmal Kumar Choudhury, who is the
chairman of the governing body of NIST Mirza said that technical
education in Assam and the rest of NE India has a long way to go
compared to progress made in other parts of the country. He was of the
belief that along with technical education there was vast scope for
basic science education in the region.

He said that it was now
time to think about augmenting pure science education, which should be
a top priority for Assam. Unless pure science education was of a
certain standard, subjects in applied sciences cannot be pursued well.

Addressing
the gathering, the principal of the new institution Aswini Kumar Baruwa
revealed that NIST Mirza would seek to achieve its goals through
innovative courses and teaching methodology. One of the firsts would be
a research lab that would enable students to share knowledge and
information with their counterparts in select institutions across the
world.

(The Assam Tribune, 15.06.2009)



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