Jammu, Apr 24: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday chaired a high-level meeting of Jammu Kashmir Higher Education Council, at LokBhavan.
The council, under the leadership of LG Sinha deliberated on comprehensive strategies aimed at driving the holistic transformation of the education sector across Jammu and Kashmir.
The key agendas included implementation of the ‘Design Your Degree’ (DYD) programme and the adoption of its official manual across universities, integration of IT and Artificial Intelligence into the curriculum, strategies to promote entrepreneurship, knowledge-based skills, and develop human capital for developed India.
The LG directed for the effective, on-ground implementation of ‘Design Your Degree’, skill development, Artificial Intelligence and other innovative programmes and initiatives across higher educational institutions.
He also called for seamless synergy between central and J&K educational institutions to drive a holistic transformation of the education sector.
“We must establish benchmarks aligned with both national and international standards, ensuring that Jammu Kashmir’s education sector stands as a model of excellence in the country,” LG Sinha said.
The meeting was attended by Prof Dinesh Singh, Vice Chairman, J&K Higher Education Council; Shailendra Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Mandeep K Bhandari, Principal Secretary to LG; Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, Administrative Secretary, Skill Development; Ram Niwas Sharma, Commissioner Secretary; Higher Education Department; Prof. Umesh Rai, Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu; Prof Nilofer Khan, VC University of Kashmir; Prof Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, VC, IUST; Pragati Kumar, VC SMVDU; Prof B N Tripathi, VC SKUAST Jammu; Prof A RavinderNath, VC Central University of Kashmir; Prof Sanjeev Jain, VC Central University of Jammu; Prof Jawaid Iqbal, VC BGSBU; Prof Mohammad Mobin, VC Cluster University Srinagar; Prof Manoj Singh Gaur, Director IIT Jammu; Prof Kavi Arya from IIT Bombay and ShobhaBagai, Director, Cluster Innovation Centre Delhi University.
Prof Dinesh Singh, Vice Chairman, JKHEC emphasised that the core mission must remain the realisation of human potential, ensuring that higher education directly fosters societal service and enhances student productivity.
The council also deliberated on setting up a regular mechanism to ensure cooperation and collaboration between various institutions of Jammu and Kashmir for engendering of joint degree programmes and a common technology-based platform for sharing of practices, ideas and programmes of various institutions; increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), special initiatives such as ‘The Riverine College’ and the AI Competition, JKHEC budget utilisation for 2025-26 and budget allocations for 2026-27.
Vice Chancellors and members of the council shared their insights on the way forward for the DYD programme and further interventions in higher education with the implementation of NEP 2020.
Prof Sheikh Ajaz Bashir, Director of Colleges, J&K; Seema Naz, Nodal Principal, Government College of Education; Ravinder Kumar Tickoo, Principal, GCW Parade Jammu also attended the meeting.
