On Tuesday, December 27, Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik emphasised the need to reshape technical education to meet the evolving needs of the 21st century. The future of civilisation solely depends on the quality and direction of education, said the Chief Minister, who was speaking at an academic session in Bhubaneswar with the theme Transformation of Technical and Professional Education in line with New Education Policy organised by the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
The Chief Minister stressed that, "Our future depends on how successfully we prepare our children for the future. Higher education is critical for societal aspirations, developmental priorities and social values, all of which must be assessed, nurtured and refined regularly," as reported by The New Indian Express.
The CM assured that the state government will offer all required support in the effort to transform technical education in Odisha, where technology has taken over every aspect of life and society. He expressed his appreciation to BPUT for hosting the meeting and stated that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which was formed by eminent scientist K Kasturirangan, is an attempt to establish relevance and provide guidance for all levels of education.
Patnaik hoped that the academic meeting will help create awareness among the education community on the policy and deliberate on the challenges and opportunities with some recommendations for its effective implementation and said, “Since the new policy aims at transforming our education system, the ways for its integration with the present education system holds the key,” as reported by The New Indian Express.
Priti Ranjan Ghadai, Minister of Skill Development and Technical Education emphasised the state government's goal of promoting technical education. He discussed how the state has transformed in a number of fields under the unique 5T governance model.
Discussions on a range of topics, including the introduction of multi-disciplinary courses, improvements in research, innovation, capacity building, the creation of a broad framework for technical institutions, the promotion of local language in engineering education, and faculty development were held as the university planned the implementation of the new education policy. Professor Banshdhar Majhi, Vice-Chancellor of BPUT, and Registrar Girish Chandra Singh also spoke. Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary of the Department of Skill Development and Technical Education; VK Pandian, 5T Secretary and Professor Shreepad Karmalkar, Director of IIT Bhubaneswar, were among those present.
