Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday launched Career Counselling Centres at 10 universities and 52 government colleges besides handing over recruitment letters to 135 teachers of government colleges during a workshop on ‘Internationalisation of Higher Education’ held at the Soochana Bhawan here.
The counselling centres will have a nodal officer and students will be given career advices.
Patnaik said, “The setting up of Career Counselling Centres in colleges and universities will help enhance the employability of our students.”
“I hope with our perseverance and commitment, higher education in Odisha will meet global standards, and we will be able to make Odisha a quality higher education hub,” the Chief Minister said.
He said that in the last two decades, Odisha has steadily progressed to become a hub of higher education and research.
“I am happy to learn that during the academic meet at the Make in Odisha Conclave, eminent academicians, administrators and industrialists provided suggestions regarding higher education, capacity building in research and innovation and other key aspects,” the Chief Minister said.
He said that in the last few years, the state government has introduced many reforms to enhance the quality and ensure access to higher education in the state.
The government has opened five new universities, eight new model degree colleges and six more are planned to promote higher education, the CM said.
A State Higher Education Council was set up and two additional Regional Directorates have been opened, he said.
The Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana, a financial assistance scheme providing loans at one per cent interest, provision of laptops, green passage scheme for orphan students and other schemes have been immensely helpful in increasing access to higher education, he added.
The Odisha Higher Education Project for Excellence and Equity with loan assistance from the World Bank is an initiative to increase capacity and reform higher education, he said.
“I am happy to learn that 182 MoUs were signed between our universities and national and international institutions of repute for collaborative research, exchange programmes and knowledge partnership with industries,” Patnaik added.
Higher Education Minister Ananta Das said that appointment letters were given to 135 teachers and in coming days more will be recruited.
He said the state is working on a new syllabus. “To improve the quality of education the government had set up five committees in November 2017 under the chairmanship of vice chancellors. The committees submitted their reports and gave proposals on reforms required and this will soon be implemented,” Das said.
Higher Education Secretary Bishnupada Sethi said that internationalisation of higher education is our priority, and at the last meeting with VCs the government had discussed the need for world class education.
The frequency of student exchange programmes will be increased as during the Make In Odisha conclave state universities had signed MoUs with many foreign universities.
“We have also decided to focus on innovation research and Ph.D scholars will be given Rs 15,000 monthly for research. Selected Ph.D scholars and lecturers will be given an incentive of Rs 5 lakh for two years for research.
Every year a research conclave will be held and 100 research projects will be discussed, he added.
Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani urged the CM to upgrade the BJB College into a university.
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