BHUBANESWAR: National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 will act as a catalyst for developing the quality of higher education sector in India, said Union Minister for Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.
Addressing the 17th convocation ceremony of KIIT University, Pradhan said recent initiatives such as academic bank of credit (ABC), multiple entry and exit system and National Education Technology Forum launched upon completion of the first year of the NEP-2020 will play a major role in transforming the higher education sector in the country.
The Union Minister urged students to work in ways that positively impact the people of the disadvantaged section. “You have acquired several skills that will help you achieve milestones in the years ahead. While you strive for excellence, I hope you also measure the excellence in terms of outcome that can help achieve the greater common goal of helping less fortunate people,” Pradhan said.
The university conferred Honoris Causa degrees of DLitt on spiritual leader and humanitarian Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), Nobel laureates in Chemistry Prof Jean-Marie Lehn and Prof Jean-Marie Lehn, co-founder of ENAM Securities and founder director of FLAME University Vallabh Bhanshali. “The most important thing to be developed through education is compassion towards our fellow beings,” said Amma in her virtual address and applauded KIIT and KISS founder Prof Achyuta Samanta for his humanitarian service.
A total of 7,032 students of 2020-21 batch received their degrees at the virtual convocation ceremony. Aayush Kumar, Basel Nassor and Sudhanshu Upadhyay won the Founder’s Gold Medals for their outstanding all-round academic performance. Similarly, 22 students were awarded Chancellor’s Gold Medals while 31 received Vice Chancellor’s Silver Medals. As many as 61 research scholars were awarded PhD degrees. The batch of 2021 has fared well despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Samanta said.
The convocation ceremony, organised with strict compliance to Covid-19 protocols, was attended by several dignitaries in virtual mode.