Nagaland governor, PB Acharya, Monday urged universities in the state to impart right and applicable knowledge to students, stressing on the importance and power of education.
Speaking at the valedictory function of the regional seminar on “Natural resources, skill manpower and development of Northeast”, organized by Kohima Science College (KSC) Jotsoma, at the college auditorium, the governor said education empowerment was needed for any state or country to move forward.
In this regard, Acharya urged young people to change the wrong mindset of aiming to get degrees alone but acquire quality education applicable for society to develop.
Reminding about the importance of education for positive change in society, the governor lamented the poor performance of the hundreds of government schools in the state and the issue of government proxy teachers. The governor also expressed regret that the state medical college, which was sanctioned three years back, never came up.
Further, Acharya said Nagaland has blessed with rich and valuable natural resources, which could turn it into a rich society, but the society remained poor.
Citing the example of how diagnosing the right disease was required to treat a patient, the governor challenged the university and scholars to do through research and find the right solution to develop society.
He also urged the people of the state to take the advantage of Act east policy to develop the state.
In her keynote address, additional director higher education, Dr. I Anungla Aier, said the North East region was a resource rich region that could connect south Asia with south-East Asia as the corridor.
She said what was missing was the right skill sets to harness it sustainably and viably and apply them skilfully and scientifically to ensure that development progresses in the right direction.
She said to overcome the challenge of getting skilled professionals was important to generate manpower with the right skill sets.
For developing society and economy in the right direction without harming the environment, she suggested taking up the challenge of creating effective convergence between the education system and the government skill development efforts, creation of the necessary institutional mechanism for research and generation of knowledge quality assurance, certificate and accreditation and mobilization of adequate investments for financing skilled manpower generation. Prof. Sapu Changkija, department of genetics and plant breeding, NU SASRD Medziphema, gave a presentation.
He said natural resources are the potential wealth of the earth and when properly harnessed it becomes a key factor in economic reconstruction and national development. Prof. Changkija said effective utilization of natural resources was of great aid in industrial development and they were the main biophysical asset for survival.
He also went into the details of vegetation and its forest types, hot spot of Nagaland, floristic resources, different crops of Nagaland, medical plants, agricultural resource system, faunal resources of Northeast and Nagaland and others.
Prof. Changkija said Nagaland has 231 crops cultivable in the state and had many rare animals and plants species found only in Nagaland.
CEO and coordinator entrepreneurs Associates Nagaland, Neichute Doulo, in his presentation, said the skilling could be focused in the local context, local resources, and local skills to provide employment opportunities and demands for the market.
He said skill development must be easily teachable and acquirable and must generate income and wealth. Doulo also highlighted many probable skill development avenues with potential.
Founder and executive secretary sustainable development forum Nagaland, Amba Jamir, in his presentation, sought to encourage understanding of skill development, assets and resources, space and opportunity, livelihood and entrepreneurship and others.
The inaugural session was chaired by assistant professor Dr. Seyiekhrielie Whiso, dept. of english KSC, welcome address was delivered by KSC principal, Dr. Lily Sema while assistant professor Wenyitso Kapfo, dept. of botany KSC, moderated the panel discussion.