Education system should mould skills, produce creative talents: Dr. Ranoj Pegu

A CORRESPONDENT

JAMUGURIHAT: ‘The earlier concept of literacy has been changed with the passage of time. We must have to acquire the 21st-century digital skills to be literate in the present-day digital and AI era. This was observed by Dr. Ranoj Pegu, the state education minister, while addressing the get-together session of the second day of the closing ceremony of the diamond jubilee celebration of THB College here today as a chief guest. He made a humble appeal to the colleges to undertake initiatives to introduce PG courses in their respective colleges following the guidelines of the universities.

Addressing the get-together of the ex-students, the Education Minister, Dr. Pegu, spoke about the transition periods, calling them the industrial revolution, the next revolution, which helped in the invention of light, and the last industrial revolution, which helped in the invention of computers, which later invented artificial intelligence (AI). Now we are living in the age of the digital era and AI. He said, ‘We are living in a transitional period where three separate periods are separated and segregated from each other. The first one is our separation from our age-old thinking and beliefs and rituals to a new dimension, i.e., moving from stagnation to mobility; the second one is the traditional education system to the new education system; and the third one is that technologically we have entered into a digital era. Now we are living in an ‘ app’-dependent society. We are not certain about our future. We are not aware of where the AI will take us in the near future.

He added, ‘Now we have adopted the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP). But the education system introduced by the Britishers was knowledge-based education, which gave importance only to degrees and marks. But the NEP never focuses on producing job seekers and degree holders rather, it tries to produce employers. The NEP integrated knowledge based education with a skill-based education system.’ He briefly explained the broad prospects of the present-day education system.

The Education Minister stated about the semiconductor project, Advantage Assam, Innovation-Incubation and Start-Up, industrialization of jobs, and other government initiatives. He briefly stated various changes that the NEP will bring into our education system. He also talked about the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC), through which aspiring students can undertake online courses from universities abroad. Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika, the president of the diamond jubilee celebration committee, attended the sessions and addressed it.

The second day programme of the diamond jubilee celebration began with registration of the alumni and was followed by a tribute ceremony. In the second session held with Dr. Anjan Ojha, retired principal of Chhayduar College  Hengulia Sopan: Na-Duwaror, a souvenir was unveiled by Jayanta Baruah, proprietor of the Pratidin Group. Unveiling the souvenir, Baruah talked about the role of language and literature in making a race live. Three other books, Tyag Bir Hem Chandra Baruah: Byakti Aaru Byaktittwa, Baresohoriya Aaru Hazari Bhaona, were released by Baneswar Bora and Dr Anjan Ojha, respectively. Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma will grace the open session of the closing ceremony of the diamond jubilee celebration tomorrow. The three-day programme began on February 7.

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