NITs in northeast should get international guidance: Minister

National Institute of Technologies (NITs) in the northeast region must obtain guidance and lessons from internationally acclaimed academicians and experts for their all-round development, Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said here on Friday.

"NITs in northeast states must sit together at the earliest to undertake some collaborative schemes for the all-round development of these national institutes," she said.

Addressing students and teachers at NIT, Agartala, the minister said that for the all-round development of the NITs in the region they must acquire knowledge and guidance from world famous academicians, scientists and technical experts.

She said a website will be created by January next year and over 90,000 e-books and 10,000 journals will be available.

"NIT authorities must get the experience and idea from the students too," she said, adding that the central government has launched various projects for the development of higher education in the country.

The HRD minister accompanied by her ministry's senior officials arrived here on Friday to hold a meeting with the education ministers of the northeast states to discuss the country's proposed national education policy.

In the meeting at Pragya Bhavan here, the union minister asked them to submit their government's views in writing on the proposed national education policy.

"The central government will obtain views from the Gram Panchayats to national level and also from the academicians and all stakeholders about the proposed education policy," Irani said at the meeting.

HRD Secretary V.S. Oberoi (Higher Education) and S.C. Khuntia (School Education) and senior officials of the education departments of all the eight northeast states attended the day-long meeting.

Tripura Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said Friday's meeting was held as the follow up meeting of the 63rd meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) that was held in New Delhi on August 19.

He told reporters that in the CABE meeting, most northeast states wanted to remove the 'no-detention policy' at the elementary school level (up to class 8).

Chakraborty said "the eight northeast states along with most states of the country are not only against the 'no-detention policy' but are also in an awkward position due to the lack of trained teachers even though the Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009, made this mandatory."

The minister said that the Left Front government strongly supported the plan for a new education policy, a process initiated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government.