Make Telangana universities global educational hub: Dr. Tamilisai to VCs

Hyderabad: Emphasizing academic social responsibility, Telangana governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday said efforts should be made to make the state universities a global educational hub.

“As an academician, I understand the importance of providing quality education to the students. I am following the developments of the universities continuously,” she said addressing vice-chancellors at Raj Bhavan on Monday.

The vice-chancellors gave detailed presentations on progress in academics, NIRF and NAAC, G-20, Y-20, Youth Red Cross, academic social responsibility, adoption of tribal villages by universities, and starting innovative courses to meet the demands of the market and placements.

The governor was also apprised of the challenges being faced by the universities in filling up the vacancies of lecturers and professors. She assured all possible support in addressing the issues.

The governor also mentioned that it was disheartening to know the status of some of the universities in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). “Particularly when the state is making strides in economic development, the education sector needs more efforts,” she pointed out.

She advised all the vice-chancellors to ensure that colleges and universities have proper infrastructure such as washrooms, classrooms, libraries, and hostel facilities.

Later, the governor inaugurated a digital library where all the books about SCERT Telangana, IIT-JEE and NEET, Computer Science and Engineering, Medical Science and Healthcare, Career Development and Recruitment (UPSC, RRB, SSC, IBPS) are stored. The governor also unveiled the souvenir of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University during the conference.

Dr Avichal Kapoor, joint secretary of UGC made a presentation on various initiatives of UGC. While speaking on the occasion, he said UGC’s digital library will be available soon.

He said it is important to reach the goals of quality improvement in education, online courses, starting multi-disciplinary courses to meet the demands of the market, and optimum utilization of resources.

Dr. P Raghu Ram, Padma Awardee, KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases, made a presentation on breast cancer. He said early detection helps to cure the disease completely. He said that universities should take efforts in creating awareness among the students about the importance of early detection and treatment of breast cancer. He also offered to support the universities while conducting awareness camps for university students.

The governor stated that along with academic education, health awareness is important for students. “There is a need to make every student understand the importance of blood donation, NTEP (National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme), and awareness about other chronic diseases including breast cancer, she said.

The governor said that she hoped all the universities will continue to meet the expectations of the students. She also pitched for innovations, and the application of technology in conducting academics All these efforts will place the universities at the international level, she said.