State Higher and Technical Education minister Temjen Imna Along maintained that the North Eastern states have pools of talented people who could be exported to the world which would become a boon for the nation.
Towards this objective, the minister urged upon the directors and principals of technical education in the north east, to deliberate on what talents were available in the region.
The minister said this while speaking to directors and principals of technical education of the north eastern states at the 4th Regional Workshop at Hotel Vivor Kohima on the theme “Challenges In Achieving Excellence Through Accreditation In Polytechnics Of North Eastern States”.
Describing teachers as nation builders, Imna Along asked them to go the extra mile to think globally, not only in terms of the north east but also to set up targets for the whole world since India has the highest number of young people at 60% of its population.
The minister further said that economic, social and cultural strategies have to be put in place to fight win the battle in the field.
He also said if the teachers as nation builders were unable to train students in polytechnics the right way and make them competitive then things were not in the right track. He reminded that skilled and hardworking people are those who build a nation.
Along told the heads of technical department of the region’s states that even if some of them were retiring or hindered by red-tapism, yet it was important for them to instil a sense of purpose among the youngsters, faculty and departments.
He requested the joint secretary MHRD present at the programme to see the north east states as having strong potential and the people humble and proud.
Along also urged MHRD to deliver the north east so that in turn it will also deliver in building the nation. He also asked all to deliberate in making it easier for the weakest sections to be provided the opportunity to be skilled.
Joint secretary MHRD Madhu Ranjan Kumar, in his brief address, said tradition leads to excellence and excellence in technical education in the north east would lead to employability in all the states.
He therefore pointed out that the main issue to be discussed in the workshop should be on how to implement the aspect of implementation of excellence in technical education so that once achieved, it would ensure improvement in industries or commerce. This would in turn provide employment and general GDP growth to a region.
Kumar said that the two engineering colleges in Nagaland and three polytechnics were probably at their infancy stage so it was important to begin right to make it easier ten years later. He said the first step on accreditation of technical institution in North East can be achieved by holding discussions with policy makers in Delhi.
Commissioner and Secretary Dellirose M. Sakhrie, IAS, in her brief address, urged the members to be conversant with the challenges and to take corrective steps so that north east can be on a par with rest of the nation.
Workshop coordinator NITTRR Kolkata Prof. Samiran Mandal highlighted the objectives of the workshop.
In his address, Mandal said that the primary aim of the workshop was to study and analyse various issues faced by the Polytechnics of North Eastern States, by providing a platform for the Principal of each Polytechnic and Director of Technical Education of each NE States to provide their suggestions to NITTTR, Kolkata for the all-round development in the field of Technical Education System.
NITTR also aimed at identifying issues related with implementing accreditation in Polytechnics of North Eastern States and suggest alternative pathways towards building excellence in Technical Education.
Along read out the message of the chief minister Neiphiu Rio in his absence.
Welcome address was delivered by Director NITTTR Kolkata Prof. Phalguni Gupta while director technical education, Er. Arjun Singh proposed the vote of thanks.
The two-day workshop was hosted by department of technical education, Nagaland sponsored by National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR) Kolkata.