Member, Niti Aayog, V.K Saraswat has said that India is going through a pedagogical shift in terms of policy and implementation and the National Education Policy-2020 has replaced the age-old redundant policies in education.
Dr. Saraswat inaugurated two Centres of Excellence that SRM University-AP recently established to promote translational research. SRM Amara Raja Centre for Energy Storage Devices has been set up in collaboration with Amara Raja Batteries Limited, Tirupati, with a commitment to application-oriented research in the renewable energy and e-mobility.
The Centre for Pioneering Studies in Gold & Silver will be working on flagship project with Titan Company Ltd (Tanishq) to develop novel gold alloy for contemporary jewellery design. The centre also aims to work on projects in collaboration with Waman Hari Pethe & Sons, Mumbai, and other jewellery manufacturers across India to produce high strength 22 Karat gold and develop tarnish free silver alloys.
At the University Research Advisory Council Meeting of SRM University, Amaravati, held on Monday, Dr. Saraswat said the NEP-2020 had provided extraordinary possibilities and opportunities to make the best use of human and natural resources in terms of education and research.
“NEP-2020 focusses on making India self-reliant as a nation. Hence NEP-2020 is to create job providers, no more job seekers,” Dr. Saraswat said.
Stating that the suggestions and recommendations of NEP-2020 had been curated to facilitate innovation and brilliance, he said that the universities and educational institutions were the core of knowledge creation and dissemination and they should be trusted with this responsibility of creating the future leaders.
Dr. Saraswat proposed to develop Value Addition Centre in SRM University-AP to promote translational research. The centre would be strengthening the relationship between industry and academia to work on product engineering to deliver market relevant products.
“For any country that aspires to be among the best globally, knowledge generation should be given importance. For a country like India, with a population of 130 crores, unemployability is a curse. Following the recommendations of NEP-2020, focus should be put on vocational courses,” he said.
P. Sathyanarayanan, president, SRM University-AP, shared his vision to make the university a new-age world-class research university.
D. Narayana Rao, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, said the university had 4,500 students and 180 faculty with a few foreign nationals among them.
