Education Minister at meeting with IIT, NIT directors says, 'Create positive atmosphere’

Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank appreciated and lauded the top reputed technical institutions for introducing various innovations to tackle the second wave of covid-19 medical emergencies in the meeting that was held today with the directors of IIT and NIT. 

The directors of various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore were present at the meeting that was held through the video conferencing mode. 

Pokhriyal stated that the positive reactions and positive thinking towards the current scenario of the second wave of covid-19 could avoid unnecessary anxiety among the students as well as the teaching community. 

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As per the statement from the education ministry, an effort taken by the institutes would be helpful in creating a positive atmosphere in society. More than hundreds of cases of COVID-19 infections on the campus of the IITs including IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur have been recorded where even a few students have lost their lives owing to covid-19 infection. 

However, IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur have both taken measures to ease the academic burden on either infected students or those who might be dealing with infections within their families. 

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COVID-19 innovations

Ramesh Pokhriyal recommended the institutes to develop low-cost RT-PCR machines, ventilators, kits, mathematical modeling of predicting the trend of the spread of COVID-19 among other initiatives. 

The Education Minister also enquired the directors about the various measures that were taken to ensure uninterrupted education amid the pandemic to which few of the institutions informed the introduction of applications that were developed to facilitate online learning, teaching, and evaluation purposes. 

Also, the institutions have made an effort to provide downloadable lecture contents and materials to the students who don't have access to high-speed internet. 

Pokhriyal concluded the meeting by emphasizing the need to implement the National Education Policy to make way for a “world-class” education system. 

Meanwhile, the IISc Bangalore and IIT Kharagpur will soon commence the courses in medical sciences in line with the multidisciplinary courses proposed in NEP 2020. However, many institutions have already introduced new departments and multidisciplinary programs.