Terming education as the guiding force behind human development, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday stressed that Universities must empower youth to make the Union Territory (UT), the centre of knowledge, enterprise, innovation, and skill development through New Education Policy-2020. Sinha, Chancellor of the University of Jammu, made these remarks while chairing the 86th meeting of the University Council of the Jammu University here at Raj Bhavan. According to an official release, a host of major decisions were taken in the meeting. The Lt Governor gave a go-ahead to the demand of increasing the stipend of research scholars from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. The council also accorded in-principle approval for setting up of Research Cluster in Jammu University. Directions were issued by the Lt Governor to work out the modalities and take steps for the promotion of Dogri language in Jammu University and Kashmiri language in Kashmir University. He further stressed that literary works in the two languages be encouraged and translations of the existing works in other languages of the country also be initiated for the promotion of the culture, traditions, and heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lt Governor passed explicit directions for conducting a comprehensive assessment of the university’s research activities for outlining their role in the overall welfare of society. He also called for the promotion of research aimed at solving local problems of UT and encouraging scholars for the same. The Lt Governor observed that the best methods of teaching should be adopted along with the regular capacity building of teaching faculties of the university campuses. The Lt Governor laid stress on developing a curriculum based on students’ feedback. He said that students’ feedback processing is a globally accepted practice and it helps lend a different perspective to the existing pedagogy.
