Fill up faculty posts fast for quality education: Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday advised higher learning institutes to fill vacant faculty positions fast to ensure quality education and research.

Kovind said this while addressing the heads, directors and vice chancellors of 19 central-level institutions in an yearly meeting.

"Wherever posts are yet to be created, it has to be done at the earliest. Filling up of vacant faculty positions is critical for ensuring quality education and research. I am sure you will take all the possible steps to ensure all these positions are filled up before next meet," Kovind said.

The 19 higher learning institutes included the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Hajipur and Hyderabad), Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University, National Institute of Design and the Nalanda University.

This was the fourth such meeting held at Rashtrapati Bhavan by the President who is Visitor to 146 Central Universities and institutions of higher learning. For ease of management and type, the universities were divided in cohorts.

The fifth meeting -- to be held next week -- with another cohort will complete Kovind's engagement with all the 146 institutions within a year.

Addressing the heads, the President urged them to plan the future of their centres keeping India's large youth population in mind and also the prospect of five trillion dollar GDP target by 2025.

"This requires us to think big and to take risks - and each of your institutes must be equal to the challenge," he said.

He told the pharma institutes that this was the time to take a "quantum leap" in the field through drug discoveries and eradicating long-standing diseases like tuberculosis. He also called for a thrust on "management of emerging lifestyle diseases."

To the agriculture institutes, Kovind suggested adopting of new technologies that "we have so far shunned to maximise on the scarce resources".

"We need to be mindful that the pressure on land and on water is immense. New technologies, including technologies we have so far shied away from, will need to be studied and adopted, as feasible," he said.

Kovind gave corresponding advice to the aviation, maritime and design institutes.

"In conclusion, I would nudge you towards partnering with universities in our country and outside; in your respective fields and beyond. Knowledge cannot grow in silos and it is essential that each of you participate in the growth of the other," he said.

--IANS

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