ITANAGAR : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday called upon universities in the Northeast to move beyond conventional degree-based education and become “problem-solving institutions” capable of addressing the region’s developmental, social, environmental and strategic challenges.
Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Roundtable of Vice-Chancellors of North-East Universities at the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) campus at Pasighat, in East Siang district, Khandu said the first-ever such roundtable in the region should lead to concrete partnerships, actionable ideas and measurable outcomes rather than remain limited to discussions.
Khandu said higher education has a particularly important role in a young and aspirational state like Arunachal Pradesh, where universities must prepare students not only for employment but also for entrepreneurship, innovation, research and public service, an official statement said here.
“Our universities must prepare our young people not only for employment, but also for entrepreneurship, innovation, research and public service, while nurturing them as responsible citizens,” he said.
The chief minister said universities in Arunachal Pradesh should respond to issues including border-area development, tribal communities, biodiversity, climate change, cultural preservation, rural livelihoods, tourism, connectivity and national security.
“Universities should become laboratories where local challenges are converted into research questions and research outcomes are converted into practical solutions,” Khandu said.
He called for stronger partnerships between universities, government departments, industries, defence and security establishments, local communities and civil society.
Areas such as sustainable agriculture, bamboo and cane, handloom and handicrafts, disaster management, eco-tourism, renewable energy, indigenous knowledge and public health, he said, should receive greater research attention.
The chief minister also stressed the need for universities to become early adopters of artificial intelligence and digital technologies.
He proposed AI-enabled academic systems for personalised learning, student assessment, research assistance, language technologies and administrative efficiency.
In Arunachal Pradesh, he said, AI could be used for remote education, multilingual learning, disaster prediction, biodiversity monitoring and healthcare delivery.
Khandu also called for joint digital repositories of indigenous knowledge, languages, oral traditions, traditional medicine, crafts and ecological practices, with community ownership and proper safeguards.
Universities, he said, should share laboratories, datasets, digital infrastructure and expertise.
The chief minister urged institutions to expand international academic partnerships, particularly in climate science, biodiversity, Himalayan and tribal studies, disaster management, border studies and sustainable development.
He suggested greater collaboration with institutions in South and Southeast Asia under the Act East policy.
Calling for stronger entrepreneurship ecosystems, Khandu said universities should become incubators of ideas rather than merely prepare students for government jobs.
He suggested linking innovation and incubation with mentorship, seed funding, intellectual property and market access, particularly in tourism, agri-business, food processing, bamboo, handicrafts, clean energy and digital services.
Referring to the RRU campus at Pasighat, he said it offered a strategic opportunity to develop a major regional centre for national security education and research. Areas of cooperation could include border management, cyber security, drone technology, disaster response, forensic science, community policing and strategic studies.
Khandu also proposed a Northeast Higher Education Consortium for joint research, faculty exchange, student mobility, shared laboratories and common digital resources.
He urged vice-chancellors to prepare time-bound transformation roadmaps with measurable indicators for teaching, research, innovation, employability, international collaboration and community engagement.
Khandu further suggested that every technical session identify one major challenge, three practical interventions, one lead institution and a clear implementation timeline. He proposed making the Vice-Chancellors’ Roundtable an annual exercise to ensure follow-up and continuity.
He reiterated the state government’s commitment to working with RRU, AIU and universities across the Northeast to strengthen education, research, capacity building and community development.
The roundtable, themed “Transforming Higher Education: Innovations, Collaborations and Strategies for a Future-Ready India”, has brought together vice-chancellors, academicians, experts and representatives of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and RRU. (Source: PTI)
