VISAKHAPATNAM: State Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan said the universities should take up the responsibility of training the producers of the new India. He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) South Zone Vice-Chancellors’ Meet 2022-23, hosted by Andhra University in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. He said today India stands as a knowledge superpower and leader. The education sector, employment opportunities and medical services are improving in the country. “Higher education is very important for the development of the country.
Providing quality higher education is the main issue today. As part of the new education policy, emphasis has been given to research, and there is also a need to increase investments in the field of research,” he opined. Vice-Chancellors are advised to pay special attention to increasing research ideas and interest among students. On this occasion, the Governor unveiled a special issue of the AIU. He said the direction should be appropriate to work collectively towards the realisation of Atmanirbhar Bharat. About 2.5 lakh palm leaf manuscripts (Talapatras) in Andhra University’s VS Krishna Library were uploaded to the cloud by the Governor at the push of a button.
Andhra University has digitised 2.62 lakh ancient palm leaf manuscripts donated by 109 people over the decades. The palm leaf manuscripts have been digitised in the last two years with special technology tools to preserve them for future generations and make them useful for research. Andhra University Vice- Chancellor PVGD Prasad Reddy briefed the audience on the university’s progress. “Students are being trained to be useful to society, according to the needs of the industry.
The technology innovation hub established in AU is serving as a platform for 34 startups. It is a matter of pride to achieve a four-star rating from the Institute of Innovation Council (ICC). We have 18 chair professors established in collaboration with various industries, and the number of foreign students exceeding 1,000 is a source of pride for AU,” he explained.
AIU president Suranjan Das said preserving indigenous knowledge is very important. He said besides providing higher education in English, there is a need to provide it in local languages. APSCHE Chairman K Hemachandra Reddy said the GER of admissions to higher education in the State has increased from 27.4 to 37.2%. He stated that the number of people, who drop out of education after Intermediate, has significantly come down, he said.