Vice-chancellors (VC) should come together and find solutions to social issues, the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on Monday, May 27, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

Speaking at the VCs of state and private universities conference at Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan, the UGC Chief said, “Higher education institutions which have a vital role in deciding where our country will be moving toward, should come forward to address social issues through education, research, knowledge, technology, value and so on. If we find solutions to these problems, it can become a solution for the rest of the world and India can become a global leader.”

Kumar said institutions should adopt the institutional development plan to develop strategic plans such as academic programmes, infrastructures, research initiatives, student service, and community engagement and so on at their institutions and when institutions implement Institutional Development Plan (IDP), it will address diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Delivering the inaugural address, Governor RN Ravi said, “When I first came to Tamil Nadu in 2021, I started looking at the working of our universities and was disappointed because most of them were working in isolation. The universities were struggling with problem of standards and there was lack of communication among them. Hence, we decided to conduct a conclave at least once a year so that universities can exchange their thoughts.”

He said the National Education Policy (NEP) is the future of the country, adding that we need to change from the old ways of teaching.