New Strategies for Higher Education and Research for New India needed – Prof PB Sharma at AIU VCs Conference

“With all pervading nature of know-how and thoughts-boggling improvements unleashed by the genius of man within the new age of hyper connectivity and data explosion, coupled with the ever-rising issues for wellbeing of humanity and safety of environmental well being, newer fashions of upper schooling for the learners of the brand new age are needed for the New India. The new age provides nice alternatives but in addition monumental challenges, that embody main disruptions brought on by know-how improvements on one hand and the rising wants for compliance to sustainability in all walks of human endeavors. The universities in India, and throughout the globe are required to gear up to reply to this dire want and form themselves as the colleges of the brand new age to contribute successfully for the creation of the New India of our dream. New Strategies for transformational reforms in larger schooling and analysis within the universities of at the moment are required to greet the brand new age challenges and make larger schooling and analysis a significant recreation changer for creating a brand new world of blissful engagement and comfortable residing on planet Mother Earth”, mentioned Prof PB Sharma at the AIU VCs Conference held not too long ago at University of Science and Technology Meghalaya. The AIU Conference was inaugurated by former President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind in August presence of Dr Ranoj Pegu, Minister of Education, Govt of Assam, Dr Suranjan Das, President of AIU, Dr Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General of AIU, Shri Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor USTM, Dr GD Sharma Vice Chancellor of USTM Meghalaya and massive variety of Vice Chancellors from throughout India and additionally by representatives of Apex Bodies together with Association of Commonwealth Universities, AICTE, NAAC and ICAR. Large variety of college students and college additionally attended the VCs Conference. The Valedictory perform was graced by the Governor of Assam Shri Gulab Chand Kataria and the Minister of Education of Meghalaya Shri Rakkam A Sangama, Education Advisor of Govt of Assam Dr N G Mahanta and Shri Atul Kothari, National Secretary of Siksha and Sanskriti Utthan Niyas.

During the final two years, the world has witnessed a devastating influence of the Corona pandemic. Covid-19 that compelled nations all over the world, with out exception, to take pressure measures together with extended lockdowns and acknowledge the truth that the facility of the microbial kingdom is extra deadly and devastating than the facility of weapons and missiles invented by man to date. It compelled companies and industries to shut and neglected numerous staff to lose their livelihood, and in a rustic like India even the technique of transport got here to a grinding halt. It additionally compelled the migrant staff to stroll empty pocket with their household to their native locations in rural India, that when despatched them to the cities and cities a number of hundred miles away from their pure habitat seeking jobs and livelihood in fashionable metropolises.

As per the World Health Organization, Corona Virus dashboard, as many as 758.4 million confirmed Corona instances have been reported from all over the world, that resulted in an estimated 6.86 million deaths attributed to Corona virus. The devastating influence of corona virus on human well being was, nevertheless, not restricted to deaths alone as its continued affect on human immunity and the threats arising out of the mutations of Corona Viruses are nonetheless a matter of grave concern and their influence is but to be extra precisely assessed. But one factor is obvious, the pandemic had a pronounced impact on the mindset and the perspective of individuals in direction of their life in addition to their livelihood. The COVID-19 has additionally impacted the social lifetime of the youthful era and their aspirations and ambitions.

The universities have been shut down and have been compelled to reinvent the way in which schooling is to be imparted to the tech-savvy, new age learners, who embraced know-how and tech improvements with ease and velocity. These new age learners belong to the 21^st Century, a century of folks that thrives on the capabilities of its folks and on the facility of their concepts. For them, PCM doesn’t solely imply Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics but in addition People’s Capabilities and their Maturity. What extra, they belong to an age that provides a smoother and a degree playfield, on the subject of buying schooling within the digital age and with the huge physique of information being simply accessible to anybody having connectivity and digital units like laptops, smartphones, tablets, and many others.

But then Covid-19 was not simply to pressure the companies, corporates, industries and the colleges to close down but in addition to ship a robust message to our minds that the way in which now we have determined to develop this world of ever rising consumption, elevated air pollution and ruthless onslaught and exploitation of nature wouldn’t be allowed to proceed, because the Nature is aware of how one can herald man’s quest for escalating greed and exploitation of Mother Nature. But then, the teachings learnt throughout pandemic have been swiftly forgotten as life returned to virtually regular after the extended pandemic. The care and concern for the setting in addition to the nicely-being of the folks at massive as soon as once more grew to become secondary to the urgency of fast restoration of financial system from its deep downfall through the pandemic days.

It can be necessary to notice that the publish pandemic world is witnessing world recession and job losses moreover inflicting monumental challenges of reviving the worldwide financial system. But one factor is obvious that the publish Covid world has resulted into ushering a brand new age, a brand new world order through which the all-pervasive nature of know-how and thoughts-boggling scientific developments and know-how improvements are forcing us to reinvent the transformative reforms in all sectors of human endeavor, together with the way in which schooling is imparted and analysis is carried out in universities and establishments of upper studying., mentioned eminent academician Prof PB Sharma who’s the previous President of Association of Indian Universities, AIU.

In this new age you will need to deal with creating new avenues for blissful engagement of the huge humanity that features round 600 million youth under the age of 25 in India alone. These new age learners are trying for a studying setting that make them able to greeting the brand new age challenges, seize nice alternatives that the brand new age provides and form them as excellent human beings deeply caring and dedicated to making a peaceable and compassionate world. The schooling for the brand new age should subsequently transcend making a hype of ML and AI and configure methods and means to create excellent human beings able to creating and sustaining a brand new world order of comfortable and wholesome residing on planet Mother Earth in peace and concord.

In this new world order, schooling, particularly larger schooling and analysis in faculties and universities is being more and more acknowledged as a significant recreation changer to empower the youth of the world with human capabilities and applied sciences to maintain our continued march on pathways of human excellence and guarantee larger ranges of sustainability in manufacturing techniques and providers. But then, schooling can’t and shouldn’t merely be centered on financial progress, it ought to alongside construct a caring and compassionate humanity and accountable citizenship that’s so important to create peace, concord and happiness across the globe, opined Prof Sharma.

New Age- The Age of Uncertainty but in addition Innovation Infinite

It goes with out saying that the brand new age is the age of uncertainty but in addition of nice alternatives to create a significantly better world than the world it was in pre-covid occasions. At the identical time, it is usually an age of nice disruptions brought on by fast progress of progressive know-how platforms, however then right here it is going to be necessary to appreciate that improvements are an incredible energy to create and create sooner and higher than the disruption it causes. Hence, the main target of innovation must be to make the most of the facility of innovation to create a brand new world through which know-how improvements create employment, new calls for for power effectivity and environmental compliance but in addition nice positive factors for accelerated financial progress and improvement with sustainability and inclusiveness.

Digital applied sciences are to be perceived as being an incredible good friend of humanity at massive as they promote transparency and belief so very important to create a good and simply world society. But for each nice good there’s a nice menace of misuse and misguide. It could be prudent for the upper schooling within the new age to pay a better consideration to features of cyber safety, info integrity and social media duty, else the digital applied sciences assisted by the newer instruments of machine studying and AI shall create extra distress than the consolation and efficacy they intend to create.

Integration of Ethics and Morals in Smart Machines and Systems Needed:

It is right here we have to foster in our universities new tech improvements equivalent to ‘Technologies of Conscience’ for sensible machines and techniques. We must develop new, sensible, and clever units with embedded applied sciences of conscience that moreover creating the convenience of doing enterprise additionally positively influence the human conduct to guard them and the planet from the misguide and misuse of the large energy of know-how and pave the way in which for elevated sustainability, empathy and compassion, so necessary for a blissful life on planet Mother Earth. Special consideration is needed for improvement of recent tech improvements within the campuses of the colleges the place the youthful minds must be sensitized about their significance at an early stage of their life.

The new age calls for a caring and compassionate management that cares for its folks, and settles the disputes, if any, by dialogues and coming along with its opponents on a typical desk to barter. War is not any resolution on this new age of transparency and quick access to know-how built-in and sensible warfare units equivalent to sensible and intelligence drones and sensible surveillance techniques succesful analyzing and helping fashionable warfare. The new age larger schooling in enterprise colleges and administration establishments must deal with creating such a brand new age management that cares for the planet and the folks and nurtures the world as one world household akin to Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam, the motto of G20 Presidency of India this 12 months in 2023, mentioned Prof Sharma.

Higher Education for the New Age Learners:

The new age schooling is to be extra about capabilities to assimilate the prevailing data, trigger deep studying and vital pondering to put it to use for performing the work exercise most effectively and most successfully. The schooling of the brand new age must be largely about nurturing creativity and innovativeness that individuals have of their genes as additionally to supply them with an setting of bringing out their easiest and manifest their innate potential of the Aristocracy and character expertise.

UNESCO at the early dawns of the 21^st Century had outlined the necessity for transformative reforms in schooling to foster an setting for not simply ‘Learning to Know’, but in addition ‘Learning to Do’ and ‘Learning to Live Together’. The UNESCO report of the International Commission on Reimagining our Futures Together: A brand new Social Contract for Education (2021) strongly argues that ‘Since wars start within the minds of males and girls, it’s within the minds of males and girls that the defenses of peace have to be constructed”. Naturally, the place else aside from in academic establishments, we will have the chance to assemble such defenses within the minds of our college students to avert battle and its agonies and create peace loving communities and nations.

Curriculum for Peace and Harmony:

It could also be value realizing what the Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein had mentioned “Peace can’t be saved by pressure; it might solely be achieved by understanding.” This tells us about the necessity to educate youth in regards to the significance of peace and the advantages that include it. We must make them perceive throughout their research within the universities and faculties how one can nurture a peace-loving society and follow peaceable coexistence. After all, a lot of the attitudinal and behavioural transformation takes place in college students throughout their research, extra throughout their school days after they have an setting of autonomy and freedom to form themselves the way in which they want to be in future. The new age schooling has thus to, from now onwards, essentially tackle board and that too in substantial method the schooling for peace, inclusivity and above all integrity and sustainability. The curriculum for peace, inclusiveness, integrity and sustainability must be configured with its common enchantment and it’s to be successfully built-in into the general framework for the brand new age curriculum. This may even pave the way in which for designing the strategic framework for schooling for the brand new India of our desires and the brand new world through which we want to reside as world residents of a peaceable, comfortable and a affluent world.

Research for Inclusive and Sustainable Development

The new age analysis, like new age schooling, additionally must endure a transformative reconstruct in its focus and in its targets and targets. For the final many many years, the college analysis has been centered on strengthening the commercial revolution and creating mega corporates, in flip, creating nice economies. But then financial improvement alone can’t be the target of college analysis. The college analysis must serve the bigger goal of making a good and simply society free from inequality and disparities.

It is right here, a renewed focus is needed for analysis for inclusive and sustainable improvement. Research that helps the expansion and development of inexperienced applied sciences and makes round financial system a actuality for reaching nice targets of web zero emissions and zero waste discharge. Unfortunately, after the Second World War the analysis in science and know-how grew to become extra closely aligned to the wants of the industries and corporates and much less in direction of the wants of society and the calls for defending the well being of the setting and the folks on the planet.

Compared to this, the scientific analysis and know-how improvements in historical India have been centered on science of life and applied sciences for human well being and nicely-being. Ayurveda was the science of wholesome life, and the meals applied sciences have been a assure to nourish a wholesome physique, a wholesome thoughts and undoubtedly a cheerful soul. The deal with meals and meals merchandise was so nicely built-in with pure medicines and vitamins that fashioned the idea for good well being and nicely-being for a superb 100 years of lifespan for people. The care and concern for nature and the safety of setting was deeply built-in into schooling and analysis in historical India. We want to return to those fundamentals and thus reinvent fashionable science and know-how-based mostly tech savvy schooling and analysis for the brand new India and the brand new world of peace and prosperity. Let the hype of automation, machine studying and AI assisted sensible units and techniques not sway away our consideration to schooling and analysis for good well being and nicely-being for the brand new age developmental targets.

Our age-outdated traditions of residing a life stuffed with divine bliss and happiness have been intrinsically associated to paying our best consideration to common follow of yoga and meditation, devour sattvic plant and cereal based mostly eating regimen worth added with cow milk and milk merchandise, additional supported by pure medicines built-in in our meals as herbs and spices. These along with righteous conduct and a self-regulated life-style created an impressed humanity dedicated to cultivating human excellence and make the most of human life as a possibility to serve, innovate and excel. We must combine such an emphasis on life sciences in our curriculum for schooling for new India and analysis for improvement of a wholesome and comfortable society.

Today, it’s all the extra necessary for us to make our soul comfortable and obey its instructions for main a cheerful and blissful life. The soul inside us guides us to do good and to stay on the facet of a coronary heart stuffed with compassion for others and a thoughts dedicated to innovating and exceling in service of man and Mother Nature. You might ask, in what language does the soul communicates with us? The soul is our greatest good friend, and it communicates to us by emotions and expression of our feelings. When we take heed to our soul and observe its instructions of righteous acts and good deeds, happiness glows from our face. However, once we act in opposition to our conscience and disobey our soul, we really feel responsible, and our face displays that guilt. In the well-known Bhagwat Gita, we’re ordained to control ourselves by self-self-discipline, “Aatmasanyam”. A cheerful soul additionally conjures up us to commit our time for classical music, classical performances, prayers to divine and join with empathy, Aatmiyata with the range of the attractive world round us. A mere stroll by the inexperienced, in a park allows us to make our soul comfortable and thoughts refreshed from all the concerns and tensions.

The yoga and the meditation weren’t merely gymnastics of physique and thoughts however in true sense a time-examined scientific system of making a wholesome thoughts and a wholesome physique, as additionally to domesticate Aatmasanyam, the self-self-discipline, which holds the important thing for a cheerful and blissful life. The Asthanga yoga of Pantanjali Yogsutras, additional conjures up us to look at and follow Non-violence, Ahinsa, Truthfulness, Satya, Sustainable consumption, Aparigriha, Containment, Santosha, preserve purity of thoughts, a thoughts free from ego, but totally dedicated to serve the society and Mother Nature. The college schooling and analysis ought to create a profound understanding of the time examined life sciences equivalent to yoga and meditation and ought to create our abiding religion within the satvik, the righteous lifestyle that revolves round purity of thoughts, simplicity of means, integrity of actions and sustainability of techniques and processes employed for a cheerful and wholesome assemble of a peaceable, compassionate and a developed human society, mentioned Prof Sharma