GUNTUR: A state-level workshop on improving and strengthening higher education in Andhra Pradesh was held at Acharya Nagarjuna University of Namburu in Guntur district on Wednesday.The panelists at the venue spoke on the importance of education in realising Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s vision of the State of making it a knowledge hub.
Stating that India was doing well with respect to teaching, Ritin Malhotra, Regional Director (South Asia) of Times Higher Education, emphasised the need for more focus on international outlook. Universities in USA, Europe, Australia and Singapore were scoring high in all assessment parameters, he said. “Best practices among universities across countries can be learnt and shared.”
The workshop was chaired by Professor Dr V Valli Kumari, Vice Chairperson of AP State Council of Higher Education, with a keynote address from Professor Dr A Rajendra Prasad, V-C of Acharya Nagarjuna University.
Prof Valli Kumari said, “The workshop is a step in the direction of strengthening higher education institutions that will eventually contribute towards the CM’s vision of Andhra Pradesh.”
She added her organisation was keen on ensuring that more institutions came forward to submit their data and apply for rankings.
Ritin Malhotra also emphasised on the need for institutions’ branding via Google and social media.
Speaking on how data validation was done and feedbacks about the institution were taken, he said the qualifying criteria for taking part in a ranking process was to have at least 150 research papers published ever year for five consecutive years.
During the workshop, data analysts and data model architects Billy Wong and Justin Tay interacted with the participants via Skype and clarified their concerns. The workshop was attended by university coordinators and representatives from other educational institutions.