New Delhi. : University Grants Commission (UGC) as part of Government of India’s 75-week long campaign of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav , launched the Training of Master’s Trainers program in Community-based Participatory Research under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0.
Delivering his welcome address, Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary, UGC, shared that the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, has presented a transformative framework for higher education in the country. Community engagement and social responsibility in higher education are emerging as new fields of professional competence internationally. The UGC as a Subject Expert Group (UGC-SEG) as part of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) 2.0 has prepared the National Curriculum Framework and Guidelines for “Fostering Social Responsibility & Community Engagement in Higher Education Institution in India” which is also one of the verticals of UGC’s Quality Mandate i.e. Social & Industry Connect for every HEI.
In his introductory remarks, Prof. K. K. Aggarwal, Chairman, NBA & UGC- SEG on Fostering Social Responsibility & Community Engagement highlighted the need to bring individuals from the cross-sections of the society under the ambit of UBA. He shared that UGC has set up this committee for analyzing the curriculum and capacity-building needs of HEI’s. Highlighting importance of National Education Policy, Prof. Aggarwal focussed on producing Global Citizens along with knowledge and skills. However, students cannot be global citizens if they do not engage with the community. Prof Aggarwal was of the opinion that if the community is not part of development, development cannot be sustained.
In his keynote address, Prof. Virendra K. Vijay, National Coordinator UBA, IIT, Delhi stated that the National Education Policy 2020’s mandate has been synchronized with the UBA 2.0 objectives and the UGC policy framework on fostering social responsibility in higher education, through this Master Trainers Program. He said that, HEIs need to link academic curriculums to practical reality and daily challenges that communities face. The hope is that this new Master Trainers Program will give new meaning to the objectives of the NEP 2020 for changing lives and building connects with society.
Addressing the participants Dr Rajesh Tandon, a member of UGC Expert Group and Co-Chair, UNESCO on CBR and Social Responsibility in Higher Education and Founder President, PRIA provided detailed design for the implementation of the program. He highlighted the importance of 7 regional centres in providing dynamism and leadership to this program. He discussed operational specifications and gave three functions of the regional centres: recruit master trainers, organize batches of trainers for training in CBPR and support them through periodically updated locally relevant learning materials.
Coordinators of 7 Regional Centres- Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Agra, Uttar Pradesh), Gandhigram Rural Institute (Dindigul, Tamil Nadu), Central University of Odisha (Koraput, Odisha), Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (Nagpur, Maharashtra), Tezpur University (Tezpur), Assam), National Law Institute University (Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh) Kurukshetra University (Kurukshetra, Haryana) gave presentation focusing on their community engagement programs and preparedness for organising Master Trainers programs.
The virtual launch event was attended by 500 plus faculty members of various universities and colleges across India.
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