Srinagar, July 9: The Executive Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir Higher Education Council (JKHEC) on Thursday held a high-level meeting at the University of Kashmir to deliberate on key reforms aimed at strengthening the Union Territory's higher education ecosystem in line with the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.
The meeting was chaired by JKHEC Vice-Chairman Prof. Dinesh Singh, who stressed the need to promote innovation-driven, interdisciplinary and learner-centric education across universities and colleges.
Emphasising the vision of NEP-2020, Prof. Singh called for reimagining higher education through creativity, flexibility, experiential learning and problem-solving. He highlighted the importance of the Design Your Degree (DYD) programme, describing it as a transformative initiative that enables students to pursue multidisciplinary learning pathways while acquiring skills relevant to contemporary challenges.
He also urged higher educational institutions to evolve into centres of innovation and research where students are encouraged to think independently, undertake meaningful projects and engage with real-world issues. Prof. Singh further underlined the growing significance of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into teaching, learning and research to keep institutions aligned with emerging global trends.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kashmir, Prof. Nilofer Khan, reaffirmed the university's commitment to advancing academic excellence, research, innovation and student-centric reforms. She said the JK Higher Education Council has emerged as an important platform for collaboration among universities, colleges and government institutions to achieve the objectives of NEP-2020.
The Executive Committee reviewed the progress made on decisions taken during previous meetings and discussed strategies for strengthening the implementation of the Design Your Degree initiative, promoting undergraduate research, entrepreneurship and innovation-led education.
Prof. Shobha Bagai, Director of the Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi, shared insights on multidisciplinary education, experiential learning and innovation ecosystems. She stressed the need to nurture creativity, research aptitude and entrepreneurial thinking among students from the undergraduate level while linking classroom learning with practical problem-solving.
The meeting also deliberated on integrating Artificial Intelligence across higher educational institutions to enhance academic practices, improve research outcomes and prepare students for future opportunities. Members further reviewed entrepreneurship initiatives, proposed programmes under the Higher Education Council framework, budgetary provisions and other academic matters.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Ram Niwas Sharma (IAS); Vice-Chancellors of the University of Jammu, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Cluster University Srinagar and Cluster University Jammu; Director Colleges J&K, Prof. Sheikh Ajaz Bashir; senior principals and academic administrators. Vice-Chancellors of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and SKUAST-Jammu participated virtually.
